EU Calls for Non-Connection Between Turkey's EU Membership and Sweden's NATO Accession

The European Commission has stated that Turkey's ratification of Sweden's NATO membership and Turkey's progress towards EU membership are not interconnected.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announced on Monday that Sweden's NATO membership would be possible when Turkey is accepted into the European Union.

“These processes cannot be linked, as the EU has a very clear accession process, and there are certain steps that candidate countries must take,” said European Commission spokesperson Dana Spinant during a press briefing.

Turkey has been an EU candidate since 1999, and Croatia is the latest country to have joined the EU. This occurred in 2013, after a process that lasted ten years. Since 2016, talks regarding a visa-free regime between Turkey and the EU have effectively stalled.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will hold a meeting in Vilnius on Monday with Erdoğan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson to attempt to remove the obstacles in Sweden’s path to NATO membership.