“It will happen,” says the US president, stressing the transatlantic alliance’s commitment to supporting Ukraine.
Washington D.C. – US President Joe Biden has said he is confident Sweden will join NATO “as soon as possible” despite Turkey and Hungary continuing to block the northern European country’s accession to the alliance.
Speaking at a United States Air Force Academy graduation ceremony on Thursday, Biden praised NATO’s unity amid Russia’s invasion of ukraine.
“NATO is more energized and more united than it has been in decades. Now it is even stronger with the accession of our newest ally, Finland, and soon Sweden, to the alliance, as soon as possible. It will happen. I promise you,” said the US president.
His comments come just days after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Turkey to approve Sweden’s offer to become a NATO member.
“From the US perspective, now is the time to finalize Sweden’s accession,” Blinken told reporters in the northern Swedish city of Lulea on Tuesday.
The top US diplomat also expressed hope that the process would be completed before a NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius in July.
NATO countries need to ratify new members. The US-led bloc has a collective defense pact, known as Article 5, which stipulates that an attack on a NATO member state is an attack on the entire alliance.
Sweden and neighboring Finland began looking NATO membership last year after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Finland officially joined the alliance in April, but Sweden’s application is still pending.
Hungary and Turkey have yet to approve Sweden’s accession, but Ankara is seen as the main obstacle. Turkey has accused Sweden of providing a safe haven for members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which it considers a “terrorist” group.
Sweden says it is addressing Turkey’s concerns in accordance with a trilateral memorandum signed by the two countries and by Finland last year.
Biden said earlier this week that he raised the issue in a phone call with newly re-elected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
“I congratulate Erdogan. He still wants to work on something about the F-16s. I told him we want a deal with Sweden, so let’s do it.” Biden told reporters on Monday, referring to a push by Ankara to finalize a $20 billion deal for the US. F-16 fighter jets.
Biden did not mention Turkey when he raised Sweden’s NATO offer on Thursday. But he stressed that the alliance remains united in response to the invasion of Ukraine, adding that the Russian president Vladimir Putin he thought that NATO would “break up”.
The US president also renewed a commitment to back Ukraine against the invasion. Washington has provided billions of dollars in humanitarian and military aid to kyiv since the war began last year.
“The United States has united the world to stand firm with Ukraine and stand up for the values that the American people hold dear: freedom, sovereignty, democracy, simple dignity,” Biden said.
“The American people’s support for Ukraine will not waver.”
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