NATO’s door is not closed – Sitsvenskan

However, the Prime Minister adds that there is no doubt that recent events have made the process more difficult.

He did not want to put his faith in a specific date for NATO membership.

– I have avoided setting timetables, my hope is that it will happen as soon as possible, he says.

– The NATO summit is at least one of these formative moments included as such a milestone. But I dare not guess.

Kristerson points out that there will be strong interest and pressure from at least 28 of the 30 NATO countries for Sweden and Finland to become members.

– But there is no one else but Turkey who makes Turkish decisions.

Sweden and Finland are still awaiting the accession of Hungary and Turkey.

After a Koran was burned outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm last Saturday, Turkish President Erdogan announced that Sweden could no longer count on Turkey’s support.

When asked why Christerson thinks the door isn’t fully closed, he replies:

– This is probably a collective assessment.

Christerson points out that Turkey has never explicitly said that the door is completely closed. But that’s how it sounded in ongoing talks with Turkey since last summer.

– We may have different ideas about where we are in the process, but there is no doubt about the ultimate goal of the process, says the Prime Minister.

The ultimate goal is for both Sweden and Finland to become NATO members.

TT: How concerned are you that membership will take longer than this summer’s NATO summit?

– If it takes longer than absolutely necessary, it will be very bad for the Swedish defense. Then, no one knows what is absolutely necessary, so there is no timetable for it.

TT: What risks would arise if Finland joined NATO, but Sweden did not?

– Basically, nobody has that view, not even Finland. I think they have emphasized that very clearly.

However, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto publicly aired for the first time the idea that Finland could join NATO without Sweden.

Christerson didn’t care about that. He points out that Havisto’s report is about a hypothetical scenario where Sweden’s door into NATO is permanently closed.

– A situation they didn’t want or didn’t plan for in the first place. Just look at the map and see how bad it would be for NATO and Sweden in such a scenario, says Kristerson.

– I consider it excluded. Nobody thinks that way.

TT: If Finland joins without Sweden, we will be in a worse security situation than before we submitted our NATO application.

– Since I haven’t seen the scene, I’m not going to answer that. However, I can say that we are now in a much better security situation than before the NATO application, says the Prime Minister.

He notes that 28 of the 30 NATO countries have said yes to Swedish NATO membership, and that Sweden has received extensive security guarantees from several countries, for example the United States and the United Kingdom.

TT: Are you concerned that security guarantees will cease if NATO membership expires?

– No I’m not.

Jimmy Akesson, head of the Sweden Democrats, the government’s Cooperation Party, criticized the prime minister’s indifference to Muslims after Kristerson expressed sympathy for Muslims offended by Koran burnings.

TT: Was it appropriate for Åkesson to criticize the country in this situation?

– Freedom of expression applies to all party leaders in the country, says Christerson.

TT: But doesn’t that damage Sweden’s chances of joining NATO?

– I’m not going to respect that. I usually think now that a very special situation can be a warm atmosphere, tone down.

TT: What do you think about the people protesting against Erdogan and creating these reactions from Turkey?

– Some of these people want to try to stop Swedish NATO membership at all costs. It’s a legitimate position, but one I don’t really share. “I think they are endangering Swedish security by acting that way,” says Kristerson.

Asked if the Swedish government had been in contact with the Turkish government since Erdogan’s statement on Monday, he replied that there was an ongoing dialogue.

– I have said that I am ready to talk to Erdoğan any day and at any time and I am always ready to do that.

Christerson also says that Turkey confirmed that many Turks take Koran burning seriously.

– There is a very broad consensus that it is appropriate to underestimate and ignore people in Turkey, and they have described it to us, Christerson says.

– Now let’s cool down the heated situation, before having new physical talks, for example with the Foreign Minister or the Defense Minister.