Sweden lifts embargo on military exports to Türkiye

Sweden has lifted the embargo and begun issuing defense export licenses to Türkiye, according to the Yeni Safak newspaper referring to a statement by Turkish Deputy Foreign Minister Burak Akcapar, Report informs.

“After a parliamentary committee accepted Sweden’s proposal for NATO membership, an attention-grabbing development occurred. It became known that Sweden began issuing defense export licenses to Türkiye after a long embargo,” the newspaper writes, according to Akcapar.

Earlier in October 2019, Sweden imposed an embargo on defense supplies to Türkiye. On December 26, the Foreign Affairs Commission of the Turkish Parliament supported the protocol on Sweden’s membership in NATO by a majority vote, and the document was submitted to the General Assembly for consideration.

Sweden, as a member of the European Union, in negotiations with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, agreed, in exchange for ratifying the application, to help intensify the process of Türkiye’s accession to the EU. At the same time, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that the issues of Sweden’s accession to NATO and Türkiye’s accession to the EU are not related to each other. In August he said he was optimistic that Sweden would join the alliance this fall.