Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Sweden open voice after the President Turki Recep Tayyip Erdogan reluctant to give Stockholm its blessing to become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Turkey itself is a member of NATO which has the right to accept or refuse other countries to enter the defense pact.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom says there can be no compromise on free speech. However, he emphasized that Stockholm will continue to implement the Madrid agreement.
“That [kesepakatan Madrid] it is very clear what Sweden needs to become a member of NATO and that is what we fulfill the conditions stipulated in the trilateral agreement,” he said, as quoted ReutersThursday (2/2).
He emphasized that religious matters were not included in the Madrid Agreement.
“Religion was not part of the deal,” he said.
The Madrid agreement is the result of a meeting between Turkey, Sweden and Finland in Spain on June 28, 2022. This step was taken as a way for the two Nordic countries to get permission from Turkey to join NATO.
Some of the points of the agreement were that Turkey asked Sweden and Finland to repatriate Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) activists who fled from Turkey and stop the arms embargo on Turkey.
In order to become a member of NATO, a candidate country must have the approval of all members. However, that chance seems to be getting slimmer for Sweden after right-wing politician Rasmus Paludan burned the Koran in front of the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm some time ago.
Previously, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would not approve of Sweden joining NATO.
“Sweden need not bother at this point. We will not say ‘Yes’ to his applications to join NATO as long as they are [Swedia] allow the burning of the Koran,” Erdogan said in the Turkish parliament on Wednesday (1/2)
Actually, Turkey’s sign of refusing to give permission was seen shortly after the incident.
At that time, Erdogan said that Sweden should not hope to get Turkey’s blessing to join NATO.
Even so, he will give a positive signal for Finland. On the other hand, Helsinki said it would join NATO with Sweden.
(one/bac)
