Sweden has defied 78 years of military neutrality, as their application to join NATO has officially been ratified. The policy shift comes as a result of the invasion of Ukraine, for a country to join NATO all members must approve a new country. In the past, Turkey has held up the process, primarily as a result of accusations that Sweden has supported the PKK, or Kurdish worker’s party. 

The conflict between the Turks and the Kurdish is a complicated issue, one that will not be discussed in full here. What is important is that the PKK are designated as terrorists in Turkey, and Sweden has housed regular Kurdish people displaced by the conflict since about 1984. This is the basis for the accusation that Sweden has housed terrorists, according to Turkey, allowing Sweden into NATO would make NATO an organization that supports terrorism. 

However, despite these issues, it has officially been announced that Sweden has done what’s required to join the alliance, but the actual talks that determined what these requirements were actually happened closer to June. The talks lasted about 4 hours, and made some specific requests for Sweden to adhere to.

Namely:

The extradition of PKK fighters arrested in Sweden, so that they may be prosecuted under Turkish law

The lifting of arms restrictions on Turkey

The sale of American F-16 fighter jets to the Turkish air forces

As of now, Sweden has officially fulfilled these requests, however no official date for membership has been given.