Global Courant
President Joe Biden will receive Sweden’s prime minister at the White House on Wednesday in a show of solidarity as the United States pushes for the Nordic nation to join NATO
TILE – Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson arrives for a speech at the Hertie School in Berlin, Germany, March 15, 2023. President Joe Biden will receive the Swedish Prime Minister at the White House on Wednesday in a show of solidarity as the United States pushes for accession from the Nordic nation to NATO just days before the summit. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File)
The associated press
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden plans to receive the Swedish prime minister at the White House on Wednesday in a show of solidarity as the United States pushes for the Nordic nation to join NATO a week before the alliance’s summit.
Biden and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will “evaluate 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 will also discuss the war in Ukraine and issues involving China.
Sweden and neighboring Finland ended their longstanding policy of military non-alignment after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Both applied for NATO membership and sought protection under the organisation’s security umbrella.
Finland, which shares a border of more than 800 miles, or 1,300 kilometers, with Russia, joined NATO in April. But Sweden, which has avoided military alliances for more than 200 years, has had its rise slowed by Turkey and Hungary; NATO needs the unanimous approval of all members to expand.
NATO had hoped that Sweden’s path to membership would be clear before the alliance summit on 11-12 July in Lithuania’s capital Vilnius. Sweden’s entry would be a symbolically powerful moment and the latest indication of how the war in Russia is driving countries to join the alliance. That hope has faded.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has resisted, with his government accusing Sweden of being too lenient towards groups it believes pose a security threat, including militant Kurdish organizations and people implicated in a 2016 coup attempt in Turkey.
Last week he condemned Sweden for a Koran-burning protest. Swedish police allowed the protest outside a mosque in central Stockholm, citing freedom of expression after a court overturned a ban on similar Quran burning.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he would convene senior officials from Turkey, Sweden and Finland on Thursday to try to allay Turkey’s concerns.
Hungary also has yet to ratify Sweden’s bid. Hungarian lawmakers said a long-delayed parliamentary vote on the matter would not take place until the fall session.
The government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has alleged that Swedish politicians have been telling “blatant lies” about the state of Hungarian democracy. Senior Hungarian officials have said they support Sweden’s membership bid, while also making vague demands for Stockholm as conditions for approval.
