WASHINGTON: The United States (US) on Wednesday asked Hungary and Turkey to quickly endorse Sweden’s NATO bid, which has been blocked for several months due to a series of issues with the two countries.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that they look forward to soon welcome Sweden as the 32nd member of NATO. He added, “And to be clear, we also look forward to that happening before July,” the US Secretary of Defense said on a trip to Sweden.
US-Sweden ties
He maintained, “So we encourage our allies, Hungary and Turkey, to approve Sweden’s accord as soon as possible,”. Highlighting Washington’s support for the Scandinavian country, the US Defense Secretary said Washington had increased its military presence in Sweden. He added, “To underline our support, the department has further increased the number of ship visits and task force missions with Sweden,”.
Sweden and neighboring Finland also announced bids to join the military alliance in May 2022, in the wake of war in Ukraine. But while Finland had managed to become a member of NATO alliance on April 4, Sweden’s bid still confronts opposition.
New members of NATO need to be unanimously sanctioned by all nations of NATO, and Sweden still faces opposition from Budapest and Ankara.
Sweden has especially angered Ankara by declining to extradite dozens of suspects that Erdogan links to a failed 2016 coup attempt.
