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Ulf Kristersson with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg: “We cannot negotiate NATO membership”
Photo: Jonas Ekstromer / AP
After Turkey's ratification, Sweden sees no reason to enter into negotiations with Hungary about its NATO application. »We cannot negotiate NATO membership. On the other hand, we can discuss how we can best work together as NATO members," Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told the Swedish broadcaster TV4. As an example, he cited, among other things, the Swedish Jas 39 Gripen fighter aircraft, which Hungary has been using for years.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán invited Kristersson to visit Hungary on Tuesday to “negotiate” accession to NATO. A day later, he asserted that his government supported Sweden's membership in the defense alliance and wanted to move forward with ratification.
In a reply to Orbán on Thursday, Kristersson expressed his openness to a trip to Budapest, but Orbán initially promised a meeting at the EU summit in Brussels next Thursday.
Kristersson now told TV4 that he likes to travel to Budapest to talk about various matters. But first we see each other in Brussels, where we can also start to “discuss” things. However, there is nothing left to “negotiate” about when it comes to NATO membership.
Turkish approval as a “labor victory”
Kristersson described Turkey's approval after a year and a half of blockade as a "labor victory." The ratification became official on Thursday evening when the so-called accession protocols were published in the Turkish official gazette.
However, we have not yet reached our goal, said Kristersson, with a view to the last remaining ratification by Hungary. He therefore did not want to predict a date for accession. But Sweden will be a full NATO member “very soon,” he said.
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