On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pointed out that his country can reactivate its veto on Sweden’s entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

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“At the NATO summit in Madrid we gave our conditional approval to Finland and Sweden… If they do not take the necessary steps to fulfill our conditions, then we will freeze the process,” Erdogan said.

“We see that especially Sweden is not projecting a good image. Our stance on this issue is very clear. The rest is up to them,” he added.

Before reaching an agreement in Madrid and lifting its veto, Türkiye had blocked the entry of Finland and Sweden into the Atlantic Alliance, arguing that these Nordic countries protect 73 people considered terrorists by the Turkish government.

Although the Madrid agreement allowed the signing of the accession protocols, ratifications of all 30 NATO member countries are necessary for Finland and Sweden to become full members of the Alliance.

Immediately after his return to Türkiye, Erdogan made it clear that his administration would not process the ratifications until verifying that the Nordic countries comply with all the commitments included in a three-way memorandum. Among them is the extradition of 73 people to Türkiye.

In this document, Sweden and Finland pledged not to support militants or sympathizers of the U.S.-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, the Syria-based People’s Defense Units (YPG), and the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).

Türkiye Could Reactivate Veto Against Swedish NATO Accession | News | teleSUR English