Washington (EFE).- The President of the United States, Joe Biden, received the Prime Minister of Sweden, Ulf Kristersson, at the White House this Wednesday to stage Washington’s full support for the Nordic country’s entry into NATO, when there are few left days to the Alliance summit.
NATO leaders will meet on July 11 and 12 in Vilnius (Lithuania) but Turkey and Hungary still maintain the veto on Sweden’s accession, which asked a year ago to join Finland in the transatlantic club.
At the start of their Oval Office meeting, Biden declared Sweden “a valued friend and partner” and said he is “looking forward to joining” NATO.
“It’s very important,” he responded to questions about the significance of the Swedish accession.
For his part, Kristersson thanked Biden for “the kind invitation” to the White House as well as his “strong support for Sweden’s accession to NATO”, an alliance to which Stockholm has “things to contribute”, he said.
The war in Ukraine, a factor in the application for admission
The Swedish prime minister added that his country and the United States share “many values and priorities”, in the face of challenges such as the war in Ukraine, the climate crisis or “the threat that China poses to democracies.”
Subsequently, the White House spokeswoman, Karine Jean-Pierre, defended in a press conference that Sweden should join NATO “as soon as possible” because it has strong military capabilities, shares NATO values and “will contribute to security European”.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which began in February 2022, caused Finland and Sweden to change the position of neutrality they had held for three decades and apply to join NATO.
Objections to Sweden’s request
While Finland became the 31st member last April, Sweden’s membership application has been blocked by Turkey and Hungary.
Turkey accuses Sweden of having a too lax stance with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a guerrilla group that began an armed struggle against the Turkish state in 1984 to demand more autonomy for the Kurds and is considered a terrorist group. by Turkey, Sweden, the European Union and the United States.
In addition, in recent days, Turkey has expressed concern over the burning of a copy of the Koran in front of a mosque in Stockholm a week ago.
For its part, Hungary is more opaque about the specific reasons why it is blocking Sweden’s entry, but the government said Wednesday that it will lift the veto if Turkey gives the green light to the Nordic country’s entry.
On the NATO summit agenda
Sweden’s application for NATO membership, as well as the war in Ukraine, are expected to be two of the central topics of next week’s Alliance summit in Vilnius.
NATO leaders will reaffirm their military support so that Ukraine can win the war against Russia, but are not expected to raise the invitation to become a member of the transatlantic club yet.
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, reiterated on Tuesday his reluctance regarding an eventual entry of kyiv, which has asked for a quick accession path to the club.
In the Oval Office, Biden did not answer a question from the press about whether Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should be invited to the summit.