Erdogan makes Turkey the E.U. Submit a condition of support for Sweden's NATO membership

ISTANBUL – Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that the European Union should clear the way for Turkey to join the bloc before Turkey allows Sweden to join. join NATO, adding a startling new condition that could further block efforts to expand the military alliance.

Mr. Erdogan's latest request came a day before the opening of NATO's annual two-day summit, where leaders including President Biden had hoped to secure unanimous approval from member states to allow Sweden to become the 32nd member.

That outcome now looks increasingly unlikely, with Mr Erdogan posing the main obstacle to Sweden joining.

< p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">"First pave the way for Turkey into the European Union, then we will pave the way for Sweden as we did for Finland," Mr. Erdogan to reporters before heading to the NATO summit.

It was not immediately clear how the leaders of the European Union or the NATO would respond to the new request, especially since they are separate organizations with many overlapping members but different purposes.Turkey applied to join the European Union in 1987, but the process has advanced slowly, with almost no progress since 2016.

Sweden applied to join NATO last year, after Russia fully joined. full-scale invasion of Ukraine. All NATO countries must agree to admit new members, a rule that gave Erdogan enormous leverage to demand concessions.

Turkey accused Sweden of providing a permissive environment for dissidents that Turkey considers terrorists, including pro-Kurdish activists and members of a religious group that Turkey has accused of planning a failed coup against Mr. Erdogan in 2016.

In recent months, Sweden has made efforts to meet Turkey's demands, changing its constitution, adopting new anti-terrorism legislation and by agreeing to extradite several Turks accused of crimes in Turkey. But Swedish courts have blocked further extraditions, and Swedish authorities have said they cannot override their country's free speech protections.

Mr. Erdogan continued to say that Sweden must do more.

A new complication arose late last month after a man publicly burned a Koran during a a demonstration in Stockholm during a major Muslim holiday. . Mr Erdogan criticized Sweden for allowing the protest and said Swedish authorities must tackle Islamophobia, even though it was not among the issues Sweden had agreed with Turkey to address.

Hungary is the only other NATO member that has yet to endorse Sweden's candidacy, but Hungarian officials have said that if Turkey's position changes, they would not impede the process. Finland applied at the same time as Sweden, but overcame Turkey's initial objections and joined the alliance in April.

By binding the will of the Turkey to join the European Union with Sweden joining NATO, Mr Erdogan threw a new wrench in the alliance negotiations less than 24 hours before NATO leaders were to meet. gather in Vilnius, Lithuania, for their annual summit. On Sunday, President Biden spoke with Mr Erdogan and told him of "his desire to welcome Sweden into NATO as soon as possible", according to a terse account of the call provided by the White House.

Before heading to the summit, Erdogan again said on Monday that Sweden could not hope to join until it answered all questions. Turkey's terrorism requirements.

"No one should expect compromise or understanding from me," he said.