Browsing: NATO

Sweden’s accession will make ‘a lot of improvements’ to NATO: Swedish FM Billström EU

The war in Ukraine has forced a major rethink in European security, with both Sweden and Finland abandoning their long-standing policy of non-alignment and applying for NATO membership last year. But while Finland was admitted into NATO this April, delays have persisted on Sweden’s entry, with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan linking a serious of unrelated issues to Ankara’s ratification of Sweden’s accession – the latest of which is a potential sale of US F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. We discuss what Sweden’s entry to NATO would actually mean with Sweden’s top diplomat, Foreign Minister Tobias Billström.

Russia keeps air strikes on Kyiv as NATO meets EU

Zelensky’s fight for NATO membership comes as Ukraine says it shot down eleven Russian drones overnight, a second night in a row of attacks on the Ukrainian capital Kyiv. FRANCE 24’s correspondent Emmanuelle Chaze gave us more on reaction from there.

Did Russian ties to Koran-burning outside Turkish embassy derail Sweden’s NATO bid? EU

The timing couldn’t have been worse. Turkey had already threatened to derail Sweden’s NATO aspirations when a far-right extremist set fire to a Koran outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm. On Friday, Ankara issued its verdict on Sweden and Finland’s joint NATO bid: For now, Turkey would only start ratifying Finland’s application. Several reports have since emerged, meanwhile, pointing to suspected Russia ties among the organisers of the damaging Koran-burning protest.