The White House stepped up its lobbying for Sweden’s pending membership in NATO on Wednesday as objections from Turkey and Hungary cast doubt on whether the Scandinavian country can join the military alliance before Mr. Biden and other NATO leaders meet in Lithuania in mid-July.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Ankara will not bless Sweden’s membership in NATO while “terrorists” are protesting in Stockholm, according to wire reports. He was referring to demonstrations by Kurdish activists that Turkish leaders consider part of a pro-independence terror group.
Turkey ratified Finland’s request for NATO membership in March and the White House would like it to follow suit with Sweden, which also sought membership after Russia invaded Ukraine.
“We have said that, and been really clear, and they should do this without delay,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, calling Sweden “a strong capable defense partner that shares NATO’s values and will strengthen the alliance.”
Separately, Idaho Sen. James Risch, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he will place a hold on a $735 million U.S. arms sale — including HIMARS rocket launchers batteries — to Hungary as punishment for Budapest’s objections to Swedish membership in NATO.
Mr. Risch is exploiting a rule that requires the chair and ranking members of the Senate and House foreign affairs panels to give the green light before the State Department can approve a foreign arms sale.
“For some time now, I have directly expressed my concerns to the Hungarian government regarding its refusal to move forward a vote for Sweden to join NATO,” he told The Washington Post.
The Hungarian Defense Ministry released a statement that suggested it didn’t want to buy HIMARS systems, anyway.
The U.S. is trying to break the logjam preventing Swedish membership ahead of a July 11-12 NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. Any member of the 31-nation alliance can veto the application.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other NATO defense chiefs will hold a two-day summit starting Thursday in Brussels, with Ukraine and NATO expansion expected to top the agenda.
