"Sweden has a strong, professional, well-trained defense and is strategically located at the Baltic Sea ... The borders with Norway and Finland allow for better coordination of land troops. In addition, there is Sweden's Navy in the Baltic Sea ... The entire territory of Sweden is of interest," he told a Swedish broadcaster.
On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Turkiye would make Sweden's membership in NATO possible only after the European Union opens its doors for Ankara. Later that day, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the Turkish leader had agreed to forward the NATO accession protocol for Sweden to the parliament for ratification as soon as possible, while the Swedish government had agreed to help Turkiye with the EU accession process and visa liberalization with the bloc.