NATO country Turkey threatens to prevent Sweden and Finland from becoming full members of NATO if they do not live up to a number of requirements.

Among other things, it is about Turkey accusing Sweden of giving a sanctuary to members of the Kurdish guerrilla PKK terrorized by the EU, the US and Turkey.

Problematic relationship between Turkey and NATO

That it is precisely Turkey that opposes membership is no surprise, says Eva Hagström Frisell, research leader at FOI.

- Relations with NATO have become more problematic in connection with Turkey's development in a more authoritarian direction.

Turkey has also intervened in Syria and it has bought air defense systems from Russia, she says and continues:

- Turkey is now trying to balance between Russia and the West.  

Can one say that Turkey is NATO's "black sheep"?

- Yes, there have been problems even before, it must be said.

The recent problems and the Turkish domestic development have created more problems in the alliance.

Turkey not only has problems with Sweden and Finland, they also have the same view of the United States when it comes to their support for different groups in Syria.

The conflict concerns more countries within NATO, she says. 

Past controversies

Since NATO is based on unanimity when it comes to making decisions within the alliance, this is not the first time countries have used political issues to complicate negotiations, according to Eva Hagström Frisell.

- There have been problems in the past with applications, for example the most recent member state of Northern Macedonia.

There they had to agree on the name issue with Greece before they became members. 

Turkey has in the past on several occasions used political issues to prevent or delay a NATO decision. 

This applies, among other things, to 2009 when Anders Fogh Rasmussen was to be elected Secretary General.

Then they protested against Danish newspapers' publications of the Muhammad caricature.

Negotiations with Turkey were then needed to resolve this before he was appointed.

Hear more about Turkey's previous contradictions in NATO in the clip above.