Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson on Wednesday rejected claims that her country supports terrorist organisations.
"We are not sending money to terrorist organisations, of course, nor any weapons", Andersson stated at a press conference on Wednesday, responding to Turkish opposition to Stockholm’s NATO bid.
The remarks came as Finnish and Swedish delegations launched discussions with Turkey on Wednesday, which, according to Andersson, would provide an opportunity to clear up "confusion" circulating about Swedish support for different groups.
Stockholm and Helsinki submitted their bids to join NATO to the alliance's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg last week, in a U-turn on decades of military non-alignment by the two Nordic countries.
A membership bid must be unanimously approved, but while many of the alliance's 30 members were quick to welcome the move, NATO member Turkey voiced staunch reservation.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Sweden and Finland of having an “open attitude towards terrorist organisations”, in reference to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Kurdish YPG militia, which Ankara considers terrorist organisations.
Earlier, in response to the claims, Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde recalled that her country was among the first to list the Kurdistan Workers' Party as a terrorist organisation back in 1984.
Nevertheless, Ankara accused Sweden and Finland of acting as hotbeds for terrorist groups. On Monday, Turkey's government published a list of five demands for Sweden that must be met before it backs down from its opposition to the Scandinavian country’s NATO membership bid.
Termination of political support for terrorism
Elimination of the source of terrorism financing
Cessation of arms support for PKK/PYD (the Kurdish Democratic Union Party)
Lifting of embargoes and sanctions against Turkey
Global cooperation against terrorism
Amid the row over the two countries’ membership bids, the Turkish president has insisted that NATO allies take concrete steps to address his nation’s concerns.
“While we clearly play a vital role in NATO, we are still conducting talks with some of our allies about lifting sanctions, and there is no way we can put aside the issue of Sweden's sanctions against [Turkey]. There is no reasonable explanation for them”, said Erdogan.
Earlier, the two Nordic countries were also denounced by Ankara for failing to respond to 33 extradition requests over the past five years, Turkish Justice Ministry sources were cited as telling the Anadolu news agency last week.
Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson earlier stated that both her country and Finland would push ahead with negotiations after receiving "positive signals" from Erdogan.
As the squabbling over NATO membership continues, Russia has reiterated that further expansion of the alliance will not bring greater security to Europe.
Nevertheless, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that he did not consider the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO an existential threat to Russia. Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin informed his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto that Finland's accession to NATO could have a negative impact on the mutually beneficial relations between the two countries, built in the spirit of good neighbourliness and partnership.