Sweden’s foreign minister reaffirmed on Monday Stockholm’s commitment to ongoing cooperation with Turkish officials, stressing the continuation of agreements under a June 2022 pact with Türkiye.
Speaking at a press conference, Maria Malmer Stenergard addressed recent developments, including a September incident involving a Swedish plane that had to turn back while en route to Türkiye, reportedly due to a malfunction.
“It was very unfortunate that our plane had to turn back, but we currently have good exchanges of views on various issues to which we are committed,” she said.
The June 2022 Trilateral Memorandum between Türkiye, Sweden, and Finland paved the way for the Scandinavian nations to join NATO, joining Türkiye, which has been a member for over 70 years.
Stenergard highlighted Sweden’s evolving defense policies, noting efforts to update military equipment export guidelines in line with NATO standards.
“With this update, we are now leaving behind the old neutrality policy and moving forward,” she explained, signaling Sweden’s shift towards deeper integration with NATO, a decision it made in the wake of Russia starting the Ukraine war in February 2022, spurring it to seek membership in the alliance.
On the Israel-Palestine conflict, Stenergard underscored the importance of a two-state solution as the pathway to sustainable peace.
“We believe that a sustainable two-state solution is the only way,” she said.
She called on both sides to de-escalate tensions, release prisoners, and reduce civilian casualties in Gaza. “It is important to bring the parties together for negotiations, a cease-fire, and a two-state solution,” she added.