Sweden says it has met Turkey's Nato demands with new terror laws

Sweden says it has met all of Turkey’s requirements to join Nato after a tougher counter-terrorism law came into force on Thursday.

The new law makes it a crime to take part in a terrorist group, finance its activities, recruit others or travel abroad to support it.

Turkey had demanded a crackdown on Kurdish militants before it would back Sweden and Finland’s accession to Nato.

Finland formally joined Nato in April but Sweden is still waiting for approval from two of 31 allies, Turkey and Hungary.

Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said he would visit Ankara “in the near future” to persuade newly re-elected Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to back Sweden’s entry.

Speaking at a Nato meeting in Oslo, Mr Stoltenberg said he would highlight to Mr Erdogan the Swedish laws taking effect on Thursday.

“They demonstrate that Sweden is now taking new steps to step up the fight against terrorism, including for instance the PKK,” Mr Stoltenberg said, referring to the Kurdish group at the centre of Turkey’s grievances.

“The fact that Sweden has delivered on those commitments just highlights the importance of making sure that Sweden becomes an ally as soon as possible.”

Nato foreign ministers were holding talks in Oslo on Thursday. EPA

Sweden’s Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said he would tell allies his government “has fulfilled all the commitments” to which it agreed in three-way talks with Finland and Turkey at last year’s Nato summit in Madrid.

“This was never a sprint, it’s a marathon and we now see the end of it,” he said.

Some diplomats have expressed hope that Sweden could be a Nato member by the time of a leaders’ summit in Lithuania next month. Sweden already attends Nato meetings and takes part in drills.

Sweden will meet Turkey and Finland in the coming weeks and “be able to tick off all the commitments” it made last year, Mr Billstrom said.

There was no immediate reaction from Turkey, whose foreign minister did not attend the Oslo meeting, which came only days after the presidential election.

Turkey had accused Sweden of harbouring PKK members and failing to extradite suspected terrorists.

Ankara was also angered by the burning of a Quran outside Turkey’s embassy in Sweden in January.

Hungary has said it supports Sweden in principle but insists it needs to “clear the air” over criticism of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s nationalist government in Budapest.

Finland’s ratification moved swiftly through Hungary’s parliament once Turkey lifted its veto, as had been expected in diplomatic circles.

Mr Stoltenberg said he was “confident that Hungary will ratify the accession protocol”.

Finland became Nato's 31st member in April. AFP

Once all 31 allies have ratified, the final step is for Sweden to hand a document to the US government confirming its accession to the North Atlantic Treaty.

Article V of the treaty commits Nato allies to collective defence. Sweden and Finland applied to join after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine shook up Europe’s defence and security order.

Ukraine also aspires to Nato membership but allies are more divided on that question.

Many countries in central and eastern Europe want Ukraine to be given a “clear path” to Nato membership, as Estonia said on Thursday, to deter future Russian aggression.

But major western powers including the US say Ukraine’s accession is a longer-term question to be dealt with once the war with Russia is over.

Even Sweden sounded a note of caution despite stressing it supports the “open-door policy” from which it hopes to benefit.

“We all understand the differences between Ukraine – a country that is at war and has large parts of its territory occupied – and Sweden,” Mr Billstrom said.

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Starring: Sydney Elizebeth Agudong, Maia Kealoha, Chris Sanders

Director: Dean Fleischer Camp

Rating: 4.5/5

Islamophobia definition

A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.

UPI facts

More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions

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The 12 Syrian entities delisted by UK

Ministry of Interior
Ministry of Defence
General Intelligence Directorate
Air Force Intelligence Agency
Political Security Directorate
Syrian National Security Bureau
Military Intelligence Directorate
Army Supply Bureau
General Organisation of Radio and TV
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Profile

Company: Libra Project

Based: Masdar City, ADGM, London and Delaware

Launch year: 2017

Size: A team of 12 with six employed full-time

Sector: Renewable energy

Funding: $500,000 in Series A funding from family and friends in 2018. A Series B round looking to raise $1.5m is now live.

Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme

Priority access to new homes from participating developers
Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
Flexible payment plans from developers
Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates

Recent winners

2002 Giselle Khoury (Colombia)

2004 Nathalie Nasralla (France)

2005 Catherine Abboud (Oceania)

2007 Grace Bijjani (Mexico)

2008 Carina El-Keddissi (Brazil)

2009 Sara Mansour (Brazil)

2010 Daniella Rahme (Australia)

2011 Maria Farah (Canada)

2012 Cynthia Moukarzel (Kuwait)

2013 Layla Yarak (Australia)

2014 Lia Saad (UAE)

2015 Cynthia Farah (Australia)

2016 Yosmely Massaad (Venezuela)

2017 Dima Safi (Ivory Coast)

2018 Rachel Younan (Australia)

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New UK refugee system

A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds