U.S. President Joe Biden reiterated support for Sweden’s NATO application as he welcomed the Nordic country’s prime minister at the White House.
Biden said he is “anxiously looking forward” to Sweden joining NATO, renewing calls for Turkey to approve Sweden’s bid to join the military alliance ahead of a NATO summit in Lithuania next week (July 11-12).
“You are a valued, valued friend,” the president said to Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson during remarks in the Oval Office. Kristersson said that “we highly appreciate your strong support” for joining NATO.
During the meeting, the U.S. and Sweden leaders also discussed deepening bilateral defense partnerships. Biden praised Sweden’s role as a regional security provider and expressed his commitment to welcoming Sweden to NATO as soon as possible. The leaders also committed to supporting secure telecom infrastructure deployment with trusted suppliers in specific countries and deepening joint research in 6G advanced telecommunications.
Biden says U.S. supports Sweden’s bid to join NATO
In a show of support, Biden restated: “The United States fully, fully, fully supports Sweden’s membership in NATO.” The president added that “Sweden is going to make our Alliance stronger and has the same value set that we have in NATO.”
The Oval Office meeting comes less than a week before Biden and other NATO leaders are scheduled to travel to a summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, for annual NATO summit.
Proud to further strengthen the close ties between the United States and Sweden. pic.twitter.com/dbICVojcTa
— President Biden (@POTUS) July 6, 2023
Biden said it was very important for Sweden to join. Sweden’s application to join the alliance has been facing objections from Turkey and Hungary. Adding a country to NATO requires the support of all alliance members.
Sweden faces continued opposition from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan who says that Sweden has harbored Kurdish exiles and refugees affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which Turkey considers a terrorist group.
Turkey, Sweden, and Finland signed a trilateral memorandum in June 2022 to address Ankara’s grievances about banned armed groups. However, Turkey says that Sweden has not fulfilled all of its commitments in the agreement so far. Hungarian foreign minister said that his country would sign off once Turkey gives a signal that it will also do so.
This issue is critical for NATO, which aims to signify unity within the NATO alliance amid Russia’s war on Ukraine. Sweden and neighboring Finland which shares a 1,340km (830 miles) border with Russia, broke decades of neutrality after the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year by seeking to join NATO transatlantic defense alliance. Finland formally became the 31st member of the NATO in April 2023.
