In the closing remarks at the NATO summit, the President of Turkey surprised the entire media corps by saying that Sweden had entered into an agreement with Turkey to extradite 73 people who he said were terrorists.
Erdogan repeated the number several times: "73, 73" he said after a Swedish reporter asked him to clarify.
- In this way, he shows that he still holds the baton and decides when Sweden and Finland join NATO, says SVT's Henrik Silver.
Raised veto against Sweden
On the first day of the summit (Wednesday), Sweden and Finland announced that they had entered into an agreement with Turkey, which includes cooperation against terrorism, the abolition of possible arms embargoes and the extradition of suspected terrorists to Turkey.
In exchange, Sweden and Finland received a promise that Turkey would lift its veto against Sweden and Finland.
On Thursday, when the summit ended, Erdogan was very clear that he demands that Sweden and Finland must fulfill the promises they made in the agreement - if Turkey is to lift its veto against Sweden's and Finland's NATO membership.
Next summer (2023) elections will be held in Turkey.
Henrik Silver believes that there may be domestic policy reasons behind Erdogan's tasks.
- If this suits him for domestic political reasons, then there is no reason for him to let go of the pressure on Sweden and Finland right now.