WASHINGTON (AP) – President Joe Biden will host Sweden’s prime minister at the White House on Wednesday in a show of solidarity as the United States pushes for the Nordic nation’s entry into NATO, a bid stalled over the objections of two members of the Western military alliance. .
Biden and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson plan to “review our growing security cooperation and reaffirm their view that Sweden should join NATO as soon as possible,” the White House said in a statement Saturday. The leaders will also discuss the war in Ukraine and China.
Sweden and neighboring Finland abandoned their longstanding military neutrality after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and applied to join NATO, seeking protection under the organization’s security umbrella.
Finland, which shares an 832-mile (1,340-kilometer) border with Russia, joined NATO in April. Sweden, which has avoided military alliances for more than 200 years, has seen its ascension delayed by Turkey and Hungary; NATO requires unanimous approval from all members to expand.
NATO had hoped the path to Sweden’s accession would be smoothed ahead of the alliance’s July 11-12 summit in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania. Sweden’s entry would be a highly symbolic moment and the latest indication of how Russia’s war is pushing countries to join the alliance.
But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has resisted, with his government accusing Sweden of being too lenient with groups it says pose a security threat, including militant Kurdish organizations and people associated with an attempted of the 2016 coup in Turkey.
Last week, he condemned Sweden for a Koran-burning protest. Swedish police allowed the protest outside a mosque in central Stockholm, citing freedom of expression after a court overturned a ban on similar Koran burnings.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he would meet senior officials from Turkey, Sweden and Finland on Thursday to try to overcome Turkey’s objections.
Hungary must also ratify Sweden’s offer. Hungarian lawmakers said a delayed parliamentary vote on it would not happen until the fall legislative session.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government has alleged that Swedish politicians have told “blatant lies” about the state of their country’s democracy. Senior Hungarian officials have said they support Sweden’s bid for membership, while making vague demands of Stockholm as conditions for approval.
