U.S. President Joe Biden gave a show of support for Sweden’s entry into NATO on Wednesday in talks with Sweden’s prime minister, Ulf Kristersson, amid efforts to overcome opposition from fellow NATO ally Turkey.
Biden leaves on Sunday on a three-nation trip centered around the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. There are doubts that Turkey will lift its opposition in time to allow NATO leaders to welcome Sweden into their ranks at the summit.
Biden, seated next to Kristersson in the Oval Office, told reporters he wanted to reiterate U.S. support for Sweden’s accession to NATO. He said he was “anxiously looking forward to your membership” in NATO.
Kristersson thanked Biden for the invitation and said Sweden “highly appreciates” Biden’s support for NATO membership.
“We also do think that we have things to contribute,” he said.
Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership last year, ditching long-held policies of military non-alignment after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Applications for membership must be approved by all NATO members, but for Turkey and Hungary have yet to clear Sweden’s bid.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan says Stockholm harbors members of militant groups it considers to be terrorists.
The United States and its allies have been working to overcome Turkey’s opposition. Erdogan has complained that supporters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Sweden continued to organize demonstrations and finance what he calls terrorist groups, which was “unacceptable” for Turkey.
Sweden has said it has fulfilled the demands agreed upon in negotiations with Turkey, including introducing a new bill that makes being a member of a terrorist organization illegal, but Erdogan has yet to signal he is ready to ratify Sweden’s application.
Sweden, Turkey and NATO will meet in Brussels on Thursday to try to find a solution ahead of next week’s NATO summit.