But it will be difficult for Sweden to enter the treaty this summer, even though the United States really wants Sweden, NATO, and the United States

From July 11th to 12th, NATO will hold a meeting of member state leaders in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius, and the United States urgently hopes that Sweden will join this military alliance before or during the summit. However, from the current situation, as Türkiye and Hungary are unable to change their opposition positions, it is unlikely that the United States will realize its aspirations.

On January 24th, Swedish Prime Minister Christsson attended a press conference in Stockholm. Shen Jizhong

The United States is vigorously promoting

On July 5th, US President Biden will meet with Swedish Prime Minister Kristoff at the White House, and it is expected that Sweden's accession to NATO will be an important issue for both sides. The White House has repeatedly emphasized that Sweden has fulfilled its commitments to join NATO and hopes that Sweden can join NATO as soon as possible. On June 28, Patel, deputy spokesman of the US State Department, also called on Türkiye and Hungary to urge them to ratify Sweden's "accession" to the Treaty as soon as possible.

In addition, the United States has repeatedly pressed Türkiye on Sweden's "accession" to the Treaty. It is reported that on the second day after Türkiye's President Erdogan won re-election, Biden first proposed to bind Sweden's "accession" to the Treaty with the sale of F-16 fighter jets from the United States to Türkiye when talking with him on the phone.

In February this year, dozens of members of the US Senate wanted to "pinch" Türkiye by approving the F-16 arms sale. They jointly wrote to Biden, saying that only when Türkiye approved Sweden's entry into NATO would the Congress consider approving the sale of F-16 fighter planes, otherwise "it would put a question mark on this pending transaction".

Multiple media outlets have reported that NATO, led by the United States, is striving to allow Sweden to join before the NATO summit on the 11th, as Sweden's accession to NATO is of great symbolic significance in the context of the ongoing crisis in Ukraine. NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg said recently that Türkiye, Hungary and Sweden will meet at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, on July 6 to discuss Sweden's "accession" to the Treaty.

Sweden and Finland will both apply to join NATO in May 2022. In July of the same year, representatives of 30 NATO member countries signed a protocol for Finland and Sweden to join the treaty. According to regulations, NATO must have the unanimous consent of 30 member countries before it can admit new members. Finland was officially approved to join NATO on April 4 this year, but Türkiye and Hungary have not yet officially approved Sweden to join. Swedish experts predict that Sweden's accession to the treaty will also need to wait until this autumn at the earliest.

On April 4th, at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg spoke at the Finnish accession ceremony. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Zheng Huansong

Türkiye clearly opposes

Despite pressure from the United States, Türkiye has never changed its opposition to Sweden's "accession" to the Treaty. The demonstration that took place in the Swedish capital Stockholm at the end of last month further strengthened Turkey's stance.

On June 28th, a man held a demonstration outside a mosque in Stockholm during Eid al Adha, burning religious scriptures and shouting slogans. According to multiple media reports, the Swedish police had previously approved the demonstration, but after the demonstration, they arrested the protesting man on charges of inciting opposition to racial or ethnic groups. Türkiye condemns the Swedish side for condoning such demonstrations on the pretext of "freedom of expression", which is "unacceptable".

According to the Associated Press, Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on July 3 local time that Türkiye was not ready to approve Sweden's accession to NATO, saying that Stockholm must work harder to complete its "work". According to the report, Türkiye has delayed the final approval of Sweden to join NATO, and accused Sweden of being too tolerant of anti Islamic demonstrations and organizations that Turkey considers as security threats.

According to the memorandum of understanding previously reached by Türkiye, Sweden and Finland, the Swedish government should no longer support the Kurdish Workers' Party, which is regarded as a terrorist organization by Türkiye. Although Sweden has taken measures such as amending relevant laws, under the ruling of the court "supporting freedom of expression", the police have approved many demonstrations in support of Kurds this year, which has aroused strong dissatisfaction from Türkiye.

In the early morning of May 29, President Erdogan of Türkiye delivered a speech in Ankara. Shen Jizhong

Hungary postpones voting

Hungary is another NATO member country that has not ratified Sweden's accession to the treaty. According to media reports, the Swedish government believes that as long as Türkiye is willing to approve Sweden's application, Hungary will approve it.

According to Reuters on June 29th, agreeing to Sweden's accession to NATO is not included in the agenda for next week released by the Hungarian parliament on the same day. Hungarian media recently revealed that the Hungarian parliament will enter a summer recess after a three-day special session, which means that Sweden's accession to the treaty will not be voted on until it resumes in the autumn at the earliest.

Swedish Prime Minister Christsson told local media on June 30th that although Hungary has postponed voting on Sweden's "accession" application, he still hopes that Sweden can "quickly join". Christsson also said that he had a conversation with Hungarian Prime Minister Orban during the EU summit at the end of June.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Siyardo stated on June 14th that the Hungarian cabinet supports Sweden's accession to NATO, but the final decision is to be made by parliament, which will definitely consider the Swedish government's "offense" to Hungary. He said that Swedish officials have repeatedly pointed out that Hungary is "undemocratic", and Hungary does not agree with this statement. At the same time, it believes that the country has "sufficient reasons" to disagree with Sweden's accession to NATO.