Swedish PM pledges to meet Turkey's demands for NATO membership

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Tuesday promised to meet Turkish security demands in an effort to get Turkey's approval of his country's bid to join the NATO, reported Xinhua.

"We will fully implement the trilateral memorandum," Kristersson said at a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in the capital Ankara.

"Sweden will take important steps with regards to the fight against terror," he added.

Sweden plans to introduce new legislation by 2023 to fight terror groups, whether they pose risk to Sweden or Turkey, the Swedish leader noted.

Kristersson said his country has designated the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as a terrorist organization and his government was willing to support Turkey in its fight against the group.

"Joining this alliance is a vital security issue for us. Being a NATO member means taking (security) responsibility for other allies," he added.

Kristersson held talks with Erdogan on Tuesday in a bid to convince the Turkish leader to approve Sweden's bid to join the NATO.

"Sweden wants NATO membership for its own security, and we want to see a Sweden that supports our own security concerns," Erdogan said.

Finland and Sweden's NATO bid was initially blocked by Ankara, which accused them of supporting anti-Turkey groups as they rejected Ankara's extradition requests for the suspects affiliated with the PKK and the Gulen movement.

Turkey, which already agreed to support Finland Sweden´s membership, is now raising question regarding the extradition of members of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) and its leaders are very often threatening to block the membership.

On July 5, the ambassadors of the 30 NATO states signed the accession protocols at the organization's headquarters in Brussels, with the foreign ministers of the two Nordic countries in attendance.