Jeddah: In negotiations marred by last week's desecration and burning of the Qur'an in the Swedish capital, Sweden failed to persuade Turkiye to remove its objection to Stockholm joining NATO.
The Swedish government's approval of the "protest" outside the central mosque in Stockholm infuriated Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. He claimed that both the perpetrator and "those who permitted the crime" were equally at fault, and that NATO membership would not be considered until Qur'an burning stopped.
Due to Sweden's alleged harbouring of PKK militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party, Turkiye already opposes Sweden's NATO membership.
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Sweden claims to have met all of the conditions set forth in the negotiations with Turkey, including the introduction of legislation making membership in terrorist organisations unlawful. The government is also investigating the possibility of making burning any holy book a crime. The extensive freedom of expression laws in Sweden currently protect such actions.
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Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer said on Thursday, "We have to ask ourselves whether the current order is good or whether there is a reason to reconsider it. "We can see that threats to our internal security have increased as a result of last week's Qur'an burning."
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Prior to the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, discussions on Sweden's membership in the alliance will continue on Monday. Tobias Billstrom, the foreign minister of Sweden, said, "We are hoping and looking for a positive decision.