Ankara ratifies Sweden's accession to Nato
The Turkish parliament on Tuesday voted by a wide margin in favour of Sweden joining Nato. Turkey has opposed the move for a year and a half, after blocking Finland's membership for months on end. Now that President Erdoğan has signed, only Hungary's approval will still be pending.
Exploiting the situation to the max
The agreement was ultimately just a matter of time, says liga.net:
“It was clear from the outset that this was political haggling and that Nato would be expanded in the end. The example of Finland last year was a kind of dress rehearsal. Turkey didn't block Sweden for ideological reasons, or even to undermine Nato, but for purely pragmatic reasons: to exploit this unique moment to its own advantage. ... After all, Erdoğan had no intention of breaking off relations with the West over Sweden's Nato membership. Erdoğan needs the West, just as the West needs Turkey.”
Turkey has proven its bargaining power
Ankara's delaying tactics have worked, praises the pro-government Hürriyet:
“Sweden has amended its constitution on the subject of terrorism. Certain PKK members have been banned from entering Sweden. ... With regard to the US, the following has been achieved: you know the seemingly endless debate about the delivery of F-16 fighter jets? Turkey has made significant progress in this regard, as will soon become apparent. To sum up, Turkey has put up as much resistance as it could as a Nato member. ... Most importantly, everyone, friend or foe, has seen that Turkey is a country with great bargaining power.”
Everyone benefits except Putin
The Frankfurter Rundschau heaves a sigh of relief:
“The deal brings Turkey closer to its western allies and stabilises Nato's south-eastern flank. In the north-east, protection is boosted not only for the Scandinavian states, but people in the neighbouring Baltic states can also feel safer. The loser is the Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin. Originally his goal was to keep Nato away from his country. But since the Russian invasion of Ukraine which violated international law, the defence alliance has moved very close to Russia with Finland's accession, and now there is a long joint border.”
Extremely unreliable
Turkey has damaged the alliance by delaying its approval for so long, according to Dagens Nyheter:
“During the two-year Sweden drama Turkey conveyed the impression that Nato is not a community at all for the Turkish regime, but merely a tool. During the Ukraine war, the country's economic relations with Russia have flourished both legally and illegally. Turkey under the AKP maintains friendly relations with Hamas, good relations with Iran and Russia and frosty relations with Nato and the EU. ... If the alliance comes into conflict with Russia, Iran or another friend of Turkey, will Ankara act in accordance with Article 5 of Nato or will it follow its own interests?”
Illiberal friendships unproductive
Népszava finds it embarrassing that Hungary is still withholding its approval:
“This time our great 'friend' Erdoğan has stabbed Viktor Orbán in the back. ... The parliamentary vote in Ankara must have come like a bolt from the blue for the normally so self-assured Hungarian diplomats. It discredited Budapest in the eyes of the Swedish government, because our officials had repeatedly explained that we would make the decision before Ankara. ... The Hungarian government is not even important to the supposed allies. That's what you get for cosying up to illiberal politicians. We have lost everything: our credibility, our honour, our Western partners and the friends we never had.”
Sweden must arm itself
Stockholm must invest much more consistently in defence, Aftonbladet demands:
“Sweden should have begun a comprehensive modernisation of its military and civil defence long ago. It simply doesn't add up for the government to warn of war while at the same time postponing the two percent of GDP defence spending target until 2028. ... Just as putting off the development of the army and navy to some point in the distant future doesn't make sense either. With all due respect for Nato membership, we must nonetheless be in a position to defend ourselves. That is not possible with the planning that is on the table right now.”