WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden plans to host Sweden’s prime minister at the White House on Wednesday in a show of solidarity as the United States presses for the Nordic nation’s entry into NATO, a week before the alliance's summit.
Biden and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will “review our growing security cooperation and reaffirm their view that Sweden should join NATO as soon as possible,” the White House said in a statement announcing the meeting. The leaders also will discuss the war in Ukraine and matters involving China.
Sweden and neighbouring Finland ended their longstanding policy of military nonalignment after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Both applied for NATO membership, seeking protection under the organization’s security umbrella.
Finland, which shares a more than 800-mile or 1,300-kilometer border with Russia, joined NATO in April. But Sweden, which has avoided military alliances for more than 200 years, has seen its ascension delayed by Turkey and Hungary; NATO requires the unanimous approval of all members to expand.
NATO had hoped the road to Sweden’s membership would be smoothed out before the alliance’s summit on July 11-12 in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Sweden’s entry would be a symbolically powerful moment and the latest indication of how Russia’s war is driving countries to join the alliance. Those hopes have dimmed.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has resisted, with his government accusing Sweden of being too lenient toward groups that it says pose a security threat, including militant Kurdish organizations and people associated with a 2016 coup attempt in Turkey.
Last week, he condemned Sweden over a Quran-burning protest. Swedish police allowed the protest outside a mosque in central Stockholm, citing freedom of speech after a court overturned a ban on a similar Quran burning.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said he would gather senior officials from Turkey, Sweden and Finland on Thursday to try to overcome Turkey’s objections.
Hungary also has yet to ratify Sweden’s bid. Hungarian lawmakers said a long-delayed parliamentary vote on that would not happen until the autumn legislative session.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government has alleged that Swedish politicians have told “blatant lies” about the condition of Hungary's democracy. High-ranking Hungarian officials have said they support Sweden’s membership bid while also making vague demands from Stockholm as conditions for approval.