Turkey will transmit the protocol for Sweden’s accession to Nato to its parliament and it will work closely with the parliament to ensure ratification, Nato said on June 10 in a statement, following a trilateral meeting among Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Swedish PM Ulf Kristersson.

The meeting was held during the Nato summit in Lithuanian capital Vilnius.

“Completing Sweden’s accession to Nato is an historic step,” Stoltenberg said following the meeting.

Since the last Nato summit, Sweden and Turkey have worked closely together to address Turkey’s legitimate security concerns, the statement from Nato reads.

As part of that process, Sweden has amended its constitution, changed its laws, significantly expanded its counter-terrorism co-operation against the PKK (a pro-Kurdish terrorist organisation that has been in a fight against Turkey for longer than four decades), and it has resumed arms exports to Turkey, all steps set out in the trilateral memorandum agreed in 2022.

Sweden and Turkey have agreed to continue their co-operation under both the trilateral permanent joint mechanism established at the Madrid Nato summit in 2022, and under a new bilateral security compact that will meet annually at ministerial level and create working groups as appropriate.

At the first meeting of this security compact, Sweden will present a roadmap as the basis of its continued fight against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations towards the full implementation of all elements of the trilateral memorandum.

Sweden has reiterated that it will not provide support to YPG/PYD (the PKK’s Syria arm) and the organisation described as FETO (a religious organisation led by Fethullah Gulen, who is in self-exile in the US) in Turkey.

Both Sweden and Turkey have agreed that counter-terrorism co-operation is a long-term effort, which will continue beyond Sweden’s accession to Nato.

Secretary-General Stoltenberg has also reconfirmed that Nato categorically condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.

Nato will be significantly stepping up its work in this area, including by the Secretary General establishing, for the first time at Nato, the post of Special Co-ordinator for Counter-Terrorism.

Nato has committed to the principle that there should be no restrictions, barriers or sanctions to defence trade and investment among Allies. It will work towards eliminating such obstacles.

Sweden and Turkey have also agreed to step up economic cooperation, through the Turkey-Sweden Joint Economic and Trade Committee (JETCO).

Both Turkey and Sweden will look to maximise opportunities to increase bilateral trade and investments. Sweden will actively support efforts to reinvigorate Turkey’s EU accession process, including modernisation of the EU-Turkey Customs Union and visa liberalisation.