Swedish PM says ready to visit Turkey to unblock NATO bid

Sweden's new Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Thursday he was ready to head to Ankara to urge Turkey to back bids by Sweden and Finland to join the NATO alliance.

"I have already sent a signal to the Turkish government that we are prepared to go to Ankara immediately," Kristersson said, as he arrived for an EU leaders' summit three days after taking office.

"I will do that as soon as it is suitable for them as well of course, so I'm very prepared for that."

Kristersson said he aimed to show Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan that Sweden and Finland "actually do what we promised" to fulfil a deal with Ankara to clear their path into NATO.

Why is Turkey blocking Finland and Sweden's NATO bids?

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Sweden and Finland earlier this year tore up their long-standing policies of non-alignment in the face of Russia's war on Ukraine and launched their bids to join the US-led military alliance.

The move has received strong backing from the vast majority of the alliance's members but Erdogan has stalled the process over accusations the Nordic neighbours are havens for Kurdish militants hostile to Ankara.

Twenty-eight of NATO's 30 allies have so far ratified the accession of Finland and Sweden - leaving only Turkey and Hungary to sign off before they officially join the group.