Sweden will live up to security commitments it made to Turkey before becoming invitees to NATO, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Tuesday (November 8) following a meeting with Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan to discuss hurdles to Stockholm's bid to join the alliance, Reuters reports.
"I want to reassure all Turks, Sweden will live up to all the obligations made to Turkey in countering the terrorist threat," Kristersson said.
Erdogan also said that Ankara conveyed its expectation to see concrete steps from Sweden to fulfil anti-terrorism obligations under a deal clearing bids by the Nordic country and neighbouring Finland to join NATO.
"In our meeting, we have openly shared our expectations for concrete steps regarding the implementation of the provisions in the memorandum," Erdogan said.
Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO in May in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But Turkey, a NATO member, raised objections, citing security concerns related to the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and other groups, and over the Nordic states' ban on arms exports.
The three countries signed a memorandum in June that lifted Turkey's veto while requiring Sweden and Finland to address its remaining concerns.
In September, following the memorandum, Sweden and Finland reversed a ban against exporting military equipment to Turkey, a move welcomed as a positive step by Erdogan.
