Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Björstrom said his country is fulfilling the initial agreement with Turkey to join NATO, but that the pact does not include compromises on freedom of speech, DPA reported on Wednesday, citing Agerpres.

After Ankara signed a memorandum at a NATO summit last year paving the way for Sweden and Finland to join, a series of protests in Sweden against Turkey and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, has heightened tensions between the two countries.

Danish-Swedish far-right politician Rasmus Paludan even set fire to the Koran, and Erdogan now supports the prospect that he might allow Finland to join, but not Sweden.

However, Billstrom told the TT news agency that “religion is not part of the agreement” that was signed with Turkey.

He said he understood Turkey’s anger over the incidents, which, while legitimate, were not respectable. He added that now all parties need to calm down, and negotiations with Turkey will continue.

However, Erdogan is on the campaign trail, parliamentary and presidential elections are expected to take place in mid-May, DPA writes.

Read also:

• Tensions between Sweden and Turkey have been heightened by protests in Stockholm where the Koran was burned
• Sweden should not be counted on to support Turkey’s accession to NATO after the demonstrations in Stockholm, Erdogan said
• The burning of the Koran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm was financed by a journalist with ties to the Kremlin
• Turkey warns its citizens about religious intolerance in the EU and racism in the US