The new demand from Erdogan - just before the summit

Recep Tayyip Erdogan  

New NATO demand from Erdogan  

Ebba Torstensson,  

Nivette Dawod  

Updated 15:32 | Posted 12:08 p.m  

News 

Ahead of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Erdogan makes a new demand.  

Sweden's application will not be approved until the EU begins membership negotiations with Turkey.  

Later this afternoon, the President of Turkey will negotiate with Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.  

Quick version  

*  Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan demands that the EU begin membership negotiations with Turkey before Sweden can become a member of NATO. 

*  Erdogan will negotiate with Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson during the NATO summit in Vilnius. 

*  NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg believes that Sweden has lived up to Turkey's demands and that approval of Sweden's membership is still possible.  

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will soon attend the summit in Vilnius. But before the meetings start, he puts forward new demands. 

Erdogan says that Turkey will not approve Sweden's NATO application until the EU begins new membership negotiations with Turkey. 

"First, open the way to Turkey's membership in the EU, then we will open up for Sweden, just as we have done for Finland," he says in a televised appearance according to the AFP news agency.  

Supports the ambition 

During the speech, he also expresses that Turkey's desire to buy the F-16 fighter jet from the United States is not connected with the expansion of NATO.  

On Tuesday, the summit begins in Vilnius. Photo: Mindaugas Kulbis / AP  

At a press conference shortly after lunch, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg commented on Turkey's new demands: 

- I support Turkey's ambition to become an EU member. At the same time, we must remember what we agreed on in Madrid, he said, and referred to the meeting last summer when Sweden and Turkey agreed on a list of demands before Turkey would approve Swedish membership. 

According to Stoltenberg, Sweden has now met these demands, which include new terrorism legislation and arms exports to Turkey:  

- It is still possible to reach a positive decision on Sweden's membership here in Vilnius. We have no sure guarantees, but we have a unique opportunity during the summit, and we will use that opportunity to achieve as much success as possible, Stoltenberg also said.  

The EU Commission has also commented on Erdogan's actions. Spokesperson Dana Spinant emphasized at a press conference that the two processes of NATO membership and EU membership cannot be linked, writes  TT. 

- The two processes that take place in parallel, on NATO enlargement and acceptance of new members on the one hand and the separate process of enlargement of the EU on the other, are completely separate processes.  

"His entire wish list"  

This afternoon, Erdogan will meet Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson under the leadership of NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg. Sweden's former ambassador to Turkey, Michael Sahlin, tells Aftonbladet that a lot is at stake before that meeting.  

Regardless of how it goes, he has hopes that Sweden will get one step closer to the defense alliance. Robert Dalsjö, defense and security policy expert at the Total Defense Research Institute, tells SVT Nyheter that Erdogan's actions are a sign that the negotiations will soon be over. 

- The negotiations are now entering what is called an "end game". Erdogan is throwing in his entire wish list, he says.  

Negotiations on Turkey's EU membership were paused after the 2016 coup attempt in Turkey and its aftermath.  

In June 2022, members of the EU Parliament discussed Turkey's possible future membership. They then stated that the country is not ready and lacks progress regarding EU-related reforms. 

Erdogan during the televised appearance Photo: Screenshot/Sabah