NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg claimed that an agreement for the ratification of Sweden’s application to the alliance is within reach despite continuous rejection from Turkiye and Hungary.
The latest incident of the Quran burning in Stockholm hurt Sweden’s chances of entering the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) before the upcoming summit in Lithuania.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already threatened to block Sweden’s membership and accused Stockholm of harboring Kurdish separatists whom Ankara labeled as terrorists.
The Quran burning in the Swedish capital held during the major Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha last week only made matters worse, with Erdogan condemning the incident.
Meanwhile, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan the burning of the holy book raised security concerns and questions about Sweden’s reliability as a possible NATO member.
Amid the uncertainty and gaps, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg claimed a deal is within reach.
NATO had hoped the problems would be resolved before the upcoming Vilnius Summit on July 11 and 12 while the leaders are expected to try again next week to settle their differences on the matter.
Before the trilateral meeting in Brussels, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Sweden will not get Turkiye’s support for its NATO bid unless the Nordic Country stops sheltering groups Ankara considers as terrorists.
