US asks Turkey and Hungary to approve Sweden's NATO membership.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has urged Turkey and NATO to act soon to approve Sweden's membership in NATO, saying it will mean a stronger alliance and a more secure Europe. He declined to say whether a recent U.S. deal to provide fighter jet upgrades to Turkey will provide enough incentive for Ankara to finally vote. Swedish Defense Minister Pl Jonson said he is hopeful Sweden will gain admittance by summer, and the U.S. will continue to advocate for Sweden's swift admission to NATO. The NATO summit will be in Lithuania in early July. Sweden and Finland jointly applied for NATO membership in May 2022, abandoning decades of non-alignment.

Austin's visit to Sweden is the first by a U.S. defense chief since 2000, by then-secretary William Cohen. He got a sweeping look at Sweden's military, including a tour of the Musko cave complex and its maritime operations centers, followed by an hour-long ride to Berga Naval Base. Sweden has long worked with NATO, but does not enjoy the full protections afforded a member nation, most importantly Article 5 protection, which states that if one member of the alliance is attacked in Europe or North America, it is considered an attack on all. In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in Feb. 2022, a number of European nations feared they could be attacked next, triggering the NATO applications of Finland and Sweden. Finland formally joined the alliance on April 5, just days after Turkey and Hungary finally voted to ratify Helsinky's application.

The Turkish government has accused Sweden of being too soft on groups that it deems to be terrorist organizations, and President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said Ankara needs further assurances before giving its final approval. In January, a far-right activist from Denmark got police permission to stage a protest outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm where he burned the Islamic holy book, angering millions of Muslims around the world. In response, Austria spoke with Turkey’s defense minister, Hulusi Akar, and they discussed Finland’s NATO membership and supported NATO’s Open Door Policy. In response, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Moscow would be forced to take military-technical and other retaliatory measures to counter the threats to its national security.