Biden says he is ‘anxiously’ waiting for Sweden to join NATO

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden told Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson of Sweden on Wednesday that he was “anxiously looking forward” to the country’s acceptance into NATO, reiterating their shared goal of strengthening the Western alliance against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

In their meeting at the White House, both emphasized the potential benefits that could come from adding Sweden to the group:

“We also do think that we have things to contribute,” Kristersson told the president as they met in the Oval Office.

But with less than a week until Biden and other NATO leaders are scheduled to travel to a summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, the inclusion of Sweden is still unlikely any time soon, given the continued opposition of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey.

Erdogan has blocked the membership bid, saying Sweden has harbored Kurdish exiles and refugees affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which Turkey considers a terrorist group.

The issue is critical for NATO, which is loath to show signs of internal division at its annual summit, particularly as the war in Ukraine grinds on. Sweden broke from decades of neutrality after the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year by seeking to join NATO.

Erdogan has also invested himself deeply in the matter, having long insisted that Western nations do not take his concerns about Kurdish terrorism seriously enough.

Every other member of the NATO alliance has approved Sweden’s membership, apart from Hungary, whose foreign minister said Tuesday that his country would sign off once Turkey had done so, according to Bloomberg.

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