Sweden eyes closer US defence ties as NATO talks drag on
[AlAhram] Sweden said Monday it had launched talks with the United States about deepening defence collaboration as
...just another cheapjack Moslem dictatorship, brought to you by the Moslem Brüderbund...
continues to block the Nordic country's NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
membership.
Sweden's defence ministry said that the two nations were negotiating a deal for "even closer cooperation with the United States both bilaterally and within the framework of NATO".
Exactly what the so-called Defence Cooperation Agreement (DCA) will cover is being negotiated "but it makes it easier for American troops to operate in Sweden," Defence Minister Pal Jonson said in a written statement to AFP.
"It could entail storage of military supplies, investments in infrastructure to enable support and the legal status of American troops in Sweden," Jonson said.
"The negotiations are started because Sweden is on its way of becoming an ally of the United States, through the NATO membership," the minister added.
Sweden and Finland broke with decades of military non-alignment and applied to join the US-led defence alliance last year in response to Russia's February invasion of Ukraine.
Turkey has refused to ratify their NATO applications, accusing both countries of providing a safe haven for outlawed Kurdish groups it deems "terrorists".
Most of Turkey's demands have involved Sweden because of its more robust ties with the Kurdish diaspora.
Ankara has notably demanded that Sweden extradite people Turkey accuses of terrorism or of having played a part in the 2016 attempt to topple President His Enormity, Sultan Recep Tayyip Erdogan the First
...Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi but they voted him back in so they deserve him. It's a sin, a shame, and a felony to insult the president of Turkey. In Anatolia did Recep Bey a stately Presidential Palace decree, that has 1100 rooms. That's 968 more than there are in the White House, 400 more than in Versailles, and 325 more than Buckingham Palace, so you know who's really most important...During a security conference in Sweden on Sunday, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who met with Erdogan in Turkey in December, said some of Ankara's demands could not be accepted by Sweden.
"Turkey has confirmed that we have done what we said we would do, but it also says that it wants things that we can't, that we don't want to, give it," Kristersson said.
Sweden has done what's needed to join alliance: NATO chief
[AlAhram] It's time for Sweden to join NATO because it has done what's necessary to secure Turkiye's approval for membership, the military alliance's secretary-general said Monday.
"I have said that time has come to bring to an end the ratification process for Sweden,'' Jens Stoltenberg told Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet in an interview.
In May, Sweden and neighboring Finland dropped their longstanding policies of military nonalignment and applied to join NATO following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The move requires the unanimous approval of the alliance members. Turkiye's has held up the process while pressing the two Nordic countries to crack down on groups it considers to be terrorist organizations and to extradite people suspected of terror-related crimes.
Last month,
. His remarks came after a Swedish court ruled against extraditing a man wanted by Turkiye for alleged links to a 2016 failed coup.
Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson has said that Sweden has lived up to its commitments and that the decision now "lies with Turkiye.''
"We have a very good process together with Finland and Turkiye and are doing exactly what we said, which Turkiye is now confirming,''
Kristersson said on Sunday, the first day of the three-day People and Defense conference in Salen, a ski resort in central Sweden. The event was attended by Stoltenberg and Swedish foreign policy and security experts.
"Legislation banning participation in terrorist organizations is being implemented, and Turkiye is known to name individuals it wants extradited. It is also known that Sweden has legislation that is clear and means that it is up to the courts. We also do not extradite Swedish citizens to any country.''
There was no immediate reaction from Turkiye to the comments by Stoltenberg and Kristersson.
The parliaments of 28 NATO countries have already ratified Sweden and Finland's membership. Turkiye and Hungary are the only members that haven't yet given their approval.
Under the memorandum, the two countries agreed to address Turkiye's security concerns, including requests for the deportation and extradition of Kurdish
... a Turkish preacher living in Pennsylvania whom the current govt of Turkey considers responsible for all the ills afflicting Turkey and possibly the entire world. Gülen and Erdogan used to be really good friends, but only one of them could be sultan, and Gülen lost...The
However,
a hangover is the wrath of grapes...
Sweden's top court has refused to extradite journalist Bulent Kenes, whom Turkiye accuses of being among the coup plotters.
Kenes, who received asylum in Sweden, was the editor of the English-language Today's Zaman newspaper which was owned by the Gulen network and was closed down as part of Ankara's crackdown on the group.
Sweden to join European Sky Shield Initiative: PM
[AlAhram] Sweden will be part of the European Sky Shield Initiative (ESSI) and participate in air policing over the Baltics, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said late on Sunday.
The Scandinavian country, which last year decided to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
), is also prepared to participate in air policing above the Black Sea and Iceland, Swedish Television (SVT) quoted Kristersson as saying at an annual defense and security policy conference in Salen, some 430 km northwest of Stockholm.
Spearheaded by Germany, the ESSI, launched at a NATO defense ministers' meeting in October 2022, aims to create a European air and missile defence system through the common acquisition of air defence equipment and missiles by European nations, and to strengthen NATO's Integrated Air and Missile Defence, according to NATO.