Biden ‘ready to work’ with Turkey after NATO-Sweden agreement
Naomi Lim
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President Joe Biden has welcomed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s promise to step aside and permit Sweden to become a member of NATO.
“I stand ready to work with President Erdogan and Turkiye on enhancing defense and deterrence in the Euro-Atlantic area,” Biden said in a statement Monday. “I look forward to welcoming Prime Minister [ULF] Kristersson and Sweden as our 32nd NATO Ally.”
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In a joint statement with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, issued before the alliance’s summit this week in Vilnius, Lithuania, Erdogan committed to transmitting Sweden’s NATO ascension protocol to Turkey’s Grand National Assembly for ratification, though Hungary is still opposed to the move. Finland became a member this spring, more than a year into Russia‘s war in Ukraine.
Erdogan has been against Sweden joining NATO, alleging Sweden is sympathetic toward terrorists, especially the Kurdistan Workers’ Party. To counter those concerns, Sweden amended its constitution, increased counter-terrorism cooperation against the PKK, and resumed arms exports to Turkey.
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Biden, who met Kristersson at the White House last week, also thanked Stoltenberg for his “steadfast” leadership during the yearlong negotiation on Monday. The president expressed confidence regarding the prospect of Sweden’s NATO membership last weekend during an interview with CNN.
“Turkey is looking for modernization of F-16 aircraft. And [Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos] Mitsotakis in Greece is also looking for some help,” Biden said. “And so, what I’m trying to, quite frankly, put together is a little bit of a consortium here, where we’re strengthening NATO in terms of military capacity of both Greece as well as Turkey, and allow Sweden to come in. But it’s in play. It’s not done.”