Sweden To Join NATO
Turkey's Erdogan has agreed to drop his objection.
Reuters (“NATO’s Stoltenberg says Turkey agrees to forward Sweden NATO bid“):
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has agreed to forward to parliament Sweden’s bid to join the NATO military alliance, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday, on the eve of a NATO summit in Vilnius.
“I’m glad to announce … that President Erdogan has agreed to forward the accession protocol for Sweden to the grand national assembly as soon as possible, and work closely with the assembly to ensure ratification,” Stoltenberg told a news conference.
Presumably, some sort of deal was made in exchange for this surprising turnabout but there are no public details as of yet. Regardless, a nice kick-off to the Summit.
There was so much talk about this ahead of time I think the deal was probably done or mostly done and they set this up for a feel good opening.
Steve
Excellent news!
Don’t overlook the possibility that a big pile of Swedish kröne just found its way to bank accounts in the Cayman’s.
I feel so much safer now. Now can somebody do something about their meatballs…..
@Bill Jempty:
One of the things the Swedes bring to a battle is a complex strategy that causes enemies to become lost in a maze from which no man can emerge without exhaustion, whining and recriminations. Only women soldiers are immune to the enervating effects, while male soldiers are frequently reduced to tears when they realize that what they thought was a simple raid is in fact Napoleon’s retreat from Moscow. Just when the hapless male soldier begins to hope his torment is ending, he’s handed a tiny Allen wrench. . .
What happens next is too horrifying to go into, but the effects of PTSD leave soldiers crying never again.
@Michael Reynolds:
Kevin Drum has a post up that seems to indicate a small fleet of F16s seems to have fallen off the back of a truck and ended up in Erdogan’s hands, and it is just a coincidence that this happened the same day Sweden was allowed to join NATO.
I can live with that. While not 100% sure they will not be used against U.S. forces at some time in the future, recent events seem to indicate they will most likely be used against Russians, or even the Chinese military.
@inhumans99:
Did Erdogan cross his heart and pinkie swear not to use them against Greece?
If you look at Turkeys financial and economic position, I really don’t think it had much choice.
It’s poorly positioned to both piss off the EU countries in terms of currency and trade, and also its main security partner, the US.
Just looked it up: Turkey’s current account deficit reached $37.7bn in the first five months of 2023.
Record levels.
They appear to have a line of support from the UAE; but they pretty definitely need the EU/ECB to be understanding.
And the US Treasury, and the IMF.
Not a good time to poke international partners in the eye.
Yes, Turkey is in a really uncomfortable position thanks to Erdogan and his foolish financial policy (although his approach to “transitory” inflation and interest rates has been what the US Lefties have been claimed Fed should do…).
The amount of hard currency burned through in support Lira including major Gulf deposits with Turkish central bank is impressive (never mind the creative swaps they have entered in).
The new Central Bank governor is a smart woman but she’s going to have quite the time unwinding Erdogan’s mess presuming he doesn’t have one of his moments and fire her and reappoint his son-in-law or similar.
@Michael Reynolds: eh, the Turks already could give the Greeks a thorough thumping, they don’t need F-16s for that.
Oh how could I forget Swedish Chef and my favorite dessert of his.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IYd_02tfLA