The Swedish government is submitting an anti-terrorism bill to parliament today, hoping to convince Turkey to drop its objection to the Scandinavian country’s NATO membership.
Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO last year amid heightened fears following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but faced objections from Turkey, which says members of “terrorist” organizations are hiding in Stockholm.
Turkey recently said it would only approve Finland’s request to join NATO.
“With the new legislation that the government is now introducing, Sweden will have a powerful tool to prosecute people who support terrorism,” said Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strömer.
The date for the adoption of the bill by Swedish parliamentarians has not yet been set. The Swedish government plans for the law to come into force in June.
Turkey and Hungary are the only NATO members that have not ratified the requests of Sweden and Finland to join the Alliance.
Ankara wants Helsinki and Stockholm to take a tougher stance on the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Source: RES-IPE
Source: Kathimerini
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