In the latest sign that Sweden’s entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization isn’t imminent, Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Turkey is asking for too much of the Nordic country in exchange for ratifying its membership.
While Turkey has confirmed that Sweden has done what it said it would do, “they also say that they want things that we cannot and do not want to give them,” Kristersson said at a security policy conference Folk och Forsvar in Sweden on Sunday. “And now the decision rests with Turkey,” he added.
Turkey has objected to Sweden and Finland joining NATO since they put in bids in May, arguing that they need to do more to combat terrorism, including extraditing people who Turkey accuses of terrorist links. A recent poll showed that 8 in 10 Swedes think that the Nordic country should refrain from compromising on its legal principles.