WATCH: Swedish admission to NATO ‘making progress,’ alliance head Stoltenberg says
PBS NewsHourJul 03, 2023
The Facts
According to NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg, Turkish Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has agreed to support Sweden's bid to join the Atlantic Alliance. This comes after Erdoğan previously accused Sweden of hosting Kurdish militants and saying Turkey would only back Sweden if the EU re-opened membership talks with Ankara.
Following talks Monday in Lithuania with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Erdoğan said his country will vote to make Sweden the bloc's 32nd member.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
Sweden has endured a lot of bullying from Turkey to get to this moment, but, thankfully, Erdoğan finally made the right decision. Sweden, as well as Finland, has a strong track record of not only upholding democratic institutions but cooperating with NATO despite not receiving membership. This is a great day for the West as Russia continues its aggressive tactics against Ukraine and threatens its EU neighbors.
Establishment-critical narrative
Common sense would tell you that expanding a nuclear-capable military alliance on Russia's doorstep is a bad idea on its own, but history also shows us why this will only aggravate Moscow further and put these newest members at risk. Finland and Sweden did just fine as neutral parties for decades, with strong militaries and developed uncorrupt political systems. Turkey's sudden about-face in sync with a discussion about its own EU membership is suspect as well.
