He just won't let go!, Biden anxiously anticipates Prime Minister | United States | Biden
According to the New York Times on July 5th, US President Biden told Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Christsson at the White House that he was "anxiously looking forward to" Sweden's acceptance by NATO.
According to the report, it is less than a week before Biden and other NATO leaders go to Vilnius, Lithuania, to attend the NATO summit. Due to the continuous opposition of President Erdogan of Türkiye, Sweden is still unlikely to join NATO.
It is reported that Sweden's "accession" to the Treaty is of vital importance to NATO because NATO is unwilling to show signs of internal division at its annual summit, especially when the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues. After the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Sweden broke its decades of neutrality and sought to join NATO.
Bloomberg News was quoted as saying that all NATO members except Türkiye and Hungary had approved Sweden's application. The Hungarian Foreign Minister said on the 4th that if Türkiye approves, Hungary will also approve. On the 5th, White House press secretary Karina Jean Pierre told reporters that Biden will "continue to speak frankly" about Sweden's accession to NATO, but the final decision will depend on the 31 members of the organization.
On July 5th, US President Biden held talks with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Christsson at the White House.
Regarding Sweden's accession to the treaty, Erdogan insisted that Sweden must do its homework well. According to the Frankfurt Report website on July 4th, just a few days before the NATO Vilnius summit, Erdogan's tone towards Sweden became sharper and indirectly attacked the United States.
![He just won't let go!, Biden anxiously anticipates Prime Minister | United States | Biden](https://a5qu.com/upload/images/ea19bb971d5130e4bbbcaebd7cfeaa19.jpg)
According to reports, Erdogan said after a cabinet meeting in Ankara on the evening of the 3rd local time that Sweden must do its homework well.
Erdogan said that as long as Sweden does not change its attitude towards "separatist organizations" and supporters of religious figure Gulen, Türkiye will "not give in". Ankara requested Stockholm to extradite Swedish citizens who were regarded as terrorists by Türkiye's judiciary, and banned demonstrations that displayed the logo of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, a "terrorist organization". Erdogan accused Sweden of adopting a "procrastination tactic".
He also insinuated to Washington, "We have identified the targets of the dirty tricks carried out by the media." Erdogan referred to a Reuters report that someone planned to bribe Erdogan's son, but has not yet paid the bribe. In Ankara, US officials were accused of leaking the matter to put pressure on Türkiye.
Erdogan once again harshly criticized the Swedish police for approving the burning of the Quran outside a mosque in Stockholm. He said that just as burning a church does not mean freedom, burning the Quran does not mean freedom. He also took advantage of this opportunity to launch a comprehensive attack on the West: burning the Quran is a new manifestation of hostility towards Muslims and Islam, which is spreading like cancer in the West.
According to the analysis of the report, Türkiye seems to be less and less likely to agree with Sweden to join NATO before or during the Vilnius Summit.