When will Ankara give green light for Nato expansion?
Sweden and Finland are still waiting for Turkey to approve their accession to Nato. An incident last Friday has put the dispute back in the spotlight: during a demonstration outside the city hall in Stockholm, activists hung a puppet of Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. The Swedish government has apologised.
The ball is in Turkey's court now
The matter of accession to Nato has nothing to do with the form of protest used at demonstrations, Svenska Dagbladet points out:
“Things like this happen in free societies and are part of what makes them free. That is all that needs to be said on the subject. As far as Sweden's accession to the Nato defence community is concerned, the question is quite different. ... As Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson stated last week - finally - that Sweden and Finland have fulfilled their obligations towards Turkey, which were agreed upon in Madrid this summer. Now it's up to Turkey to fulfil its part of the deal.”
Never enough for Erdoğan
Instead of hurrying to apologise Stockholm should show Ankara where the limits are, criticises Dagens Nyheter:
“It will never be enough. Sweden can make concession after concession, but the more we concede, the harder Erdoğan will squeeze us. We have nothing to offer him that could make him ease the pressure except for things that are incompatible with Swedish democracy and legal tradition, for example the extradition of opponents of the regime, harsh measures against Swedish Kurds or stifled freedom of expression.”
Time for Biden to intervene
It's time for the US to step up the pressure on Turkey, Kaleva urges:
“The United States has not yet openly commented on Turkey's tactics, but Washington unequivocally supports Finland's and Sweden's membership in Nato. Erdoğan's blockade is already putting Nato's internal cohesion to the test, and if this continues indefinitely, the authority of the US and Biden's leadership will be called into question. In any case, the pressure on Turkey should be applied in such a way that Erdoğan is still able to look like a winner in his country. Even if an agreement on thefighter jet deal is reached now, Biden still has the option of delaying the delivery of the fighter jets if Erdoğan continues to play his dishonourable game.”