German Chancellor Olaf Scholz rejected the proposal, saying Turkey’s EU candidacy had nothing to do with Sweden’s NATO bid. The European Commission was quick to point out that the processes of joining the two blocs are entirely separate, Financial Post reports.
“The EU has a very structured process of enlargement and there is a very clear set of steps,” European Commission spokeswoman Dana Spinant told reporters in Brussels. “You cannot link two processes.”
After decades of outside of NATO, Sweden and its Nordic neighbor Finland, which borders Russia, applied following President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Finland won Turkish approval three months ago and entered in April. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is traveling to the summit in Vilnius as well to call for clear signals of support for Ukraine to join, although accession isn’t expected as long as the war persists.
