Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1503554
14 WORLD maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 12 JULY 2023 TURKEY'S President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will agree to support Sweden's bid to join Nato despite his previous opposition. The change of heart was an- nounced on Monday ahead of the alliance's summit, which is being held in Vilnius, Lithuania. Nato secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, told a briefing that the Turkish leader has agreed to send Sweden's Nato accession protocol to the Turkish Parlia- ment "as soon as possible" after talks with Mr Erdogan and Swed- ish prime minister, Ulf Kristers- son. "This is an historic day because we have a clear commitment by Turkey to submit the ratification documents to the Grand National Assembly, and to work also with the assembly to ensure ratifica- tion," he said – though he warned a "clear date" could not be given for when Sweden will join. Sweden will follow its Scandina- vian neighbours, Finland, in join- ing Nato – Finland became a full member back in April. Ukraine is also pushing to join the alliance, though it is unlikely to happen while the war with Russia is on- going. What is NATO? Nato stands for the North At- lantic Treaty Organisation, and is also known as the North Atlantic Alliance. Its stated purpose is to guaran- tee the freedom and security of its members through political and military means. Nato was founded in April 1949 in Washington DC, USA. Its headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium. There are now 31 countries in Nato; 28 in Europe, two in North America and one in Eurasia. Nato says its membership is open to "any other European state in a position to further the principles" of its treaty and to "contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area". Why is Sweden joining Nato? Sweden had applied last May to join the collective defence pact, ending a decades-long stance of neutrality following the invasion of Ukraine. Finland applied to join at the same time, but while Finland's application was signed off by all 30 member states, Turkey held off on giving its consent for Swe- den's admission. Nato members must unanimously approve new members. In withholding consent, Mr Er- dogan had cited concerns over Sweden's historic embrace of Kurdish groups that Turkey con- siders terrorists, while Turkish officials have also voiced anger at far-right Qu'ran burnings in Swe- den. The Turkish President had continued to voice objections as recently as Monday morn- ing, claiming that his country's long-standing application to join the European Union must be pro- gressed before he would sign off on Sweden's entry. "Turkey has been waiting at the door of the European Union for over 50 years now, and almost all of the Nato member countries are now members of the European Union," he told reporters in Istan- bul. "I am making this call to these countries that have kept Turkey waiting at the gates of the Europe- an Union for more than 50 years." It is thought Sweden has agreed to help unblock Turkey's progress towards joining the EU. "What Sweden agreed today as an EU member was to support actively the efforts to reinvigorate Tur- key's EU accession process," Erdo- gan added. Because of the deal on Sweden's membership, "this summit is al- ready historic before it has start- ed," Stoltenberg said. US President, Joe Biden, start- ed his Tuesday by meeting with the Lithuanian president, Gitanas Nauseda, where he emphasised his commitment to transatlantic cooperation. "Nothing happens here that doesn't affect us," Biden said. He expressed confidence in Sweden's path to finalising its Nato mem- bership. Biden and Erdogan are sched- uled to meet Tuesday evening, and it was unclear how some of the Turkish president's other de- mands will be resolved. He has been seeking advanced American fighter jets along with the path to- ward membership of the EU. The White House has expressed sup- port for both, but publicly insisted that the issues were not related to Sweden's Nato membership. "I stand ready to work with President Erdogan and Turkey on enhancing defense and de- terrence in the Euro-Atlantic ar- ea," Biden said in a statement on Monday. Will Ukraine join Nato? Ukraine is pushing to join Nato as quickly as possible, but some EU countries are cautious about the move, which they fear could draw the alliance closer into war with Russia. Fears around Nato's enlarge- ment was one of the key reasons behind Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine, as he sees the alliance as a threat to Russia's borders. Ukraine has had a partnership membership with Nato since 1992, which means it can be pro- vided with assistance with na- tional security, but it is not offi- cially a member state. In 2017, Ukraine adopted a constitutional amendment that committed the country to Nato membership, spurred by Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Ukrainian president, Volody- myr Zelensky, made a fresh plea for membership last Friday. "We are talking about a clear signal, some concrete things in the di- rection of an invitation," he said. "We need this motivation. We need honesty in our relations." On Sunday, Biden told CNN that he did not believe Ukraine was "ready" for Nato member- ship. "Nato is a process that takes some time to meet all the quali- fications – from democratisation to a whole range of other issues," he said, adding that Nato need- ed to "lay out a rational path" for membership. The US has also said that it would be unlikely to draw sup- port from the public, who would not want to become involved in a war in Europe. Is Sweden joining Nato? Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson shake hands at the Nato summit in Vilnius