Austin hopes Turkey will act on Sweden NATO bid before July
By LOLITA C. BALDOR
Associated Press
MUSKO NAVAL BASE, Sweden (AP) — Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says it’s important that Turkey decides to allow Sweden to join NATO “sooner versus later.” Austin told reporters in Sweden he “feels confident” it will happen before the alliance summit in July. Sweden’s bid to join NATO remains stalled by opposition from Turkey and Hungary, even weeks after both nations finally approved Finland’s application. The two Nordic neighbors jointly applied for NATO membership in May 2022, abandoning decades of non-alignment in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Austin and Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson spoke to reporters near the docks at the Musko Naval Base.
