Tag: Swedens

Norway irked over Sweden’s silence on rocket that crashed on its shores

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The Norwegian foreign ministry has expressed irritation with Sweden for not immediately informing it of a research rocket that crashed in Norway, in a rare spat between the two neighbours.
The rocket, which was launched early Monday from the Esrange Space Centre in Kiruna, northern Sweden, plunged into a mountainside in the Målselv municipality in Norway’s far north, about 10km (six miles) from the closest inhabited area.
No one was injured and no material damage was reported.
“The crash of a rocket like this is a very serious incident that can cause serious damage,” the foreign ministry in Oslo said.
“When such a border violation occurs, it is crucial that those responsible immediately inform the relevant Norwegian authorities through the proper channels,” it said.
The rocket was carrying out experiments in zero gravity at an altitude of 250km .
“The rocket took a slightly longer and more westerly trajectory than calculated and landed after a completed flight 15km (9.3 miles) into Norway,” the Swedish Space Corporation said in a statement on Monday.
“Work on retrieving the payload is under way,” it added.

Norway’s foreign ministry also noted that retrieval work was not supposed to begin without Norwegian authorisation, which had not been granted.
Norway’s Civil Aviation Authority said it had learned of the crash from the Swedish Space Corporation’s press release issued on Monday.
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#Norway #irked #Swedens #silence #rocket #crashed #shores
( With inputs from : www.theguardian.com )

April 26, 2023
US urges Turkey to ‘quickly’ ratify Sweden’s NATO membership

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Washington: After Turkey approved the process of ratifying Finland’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the US welcomed the decision of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and said that America encourage Ankara to “quickly ratify Sweden’s accession protocols as well.”
In the statement, released by the White House, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said, “The United States welcomes President Erdogan’s announcement that he will send Finland’s NATO accession protocols to the Turkish Parliament and looks forward to the prompt conclusion of that process.”
“We encourage Turkey to quickly ratify Sweden’s accession protocols as well. In addition, we urge Hungary to conclude its ratification process for both Finland and Sweden without delay,” he added.
In the statement, Sullivan further stated that Sweden and Finland, both countries are strong, capable partners that share NATO’s values and will strengthen the Alliance and contribute to European security.
“The United States believes that both countries should become members of NATO as soon as possible,” the statement read.
Earlier, Turkey approved the process of ratifying Finland’s accession to NATO.
According to the Anadolu Agency, President Erdogan at a joint press conference with his Finnish counterpart Sauli Niinisto in Ankara noted that Finland had addressed all of Turkey’s security concerns.
In the press conference, Erdogan said, “We have decided to launch the approval process of Finland’s NATO membership protocol in our Parliament.”

Citing negotiations on Sweden and Finland’s accession bids at the NATO Madrid summit in June 2022, Erdogan said that Turkiye is among the strong defenders of NATO’s open-door policy.
The President further stated that Turkey has seen that Finland had taken concrete steps to fulfil its commitments in the tripartite memorandum which was signed at the Madrid summit in June, last year, according to Anadolu Agency.
“NATO will become stronger with Finland’s membership, and I believe it will play an active role in maintaining global security and stability,” Erdogan added.
He further emphasized that Turkey-Finland relations will be strengthened on the basis of the NATO alliance following the completion of the approval process.
On Sweden’s process, Erdogan said that Turkey will continue its talk on the basis of the principles of the alliance and our approach to the fight against terrorism.
“I believe that our country’s principles and goodwill in advancing the (NATO accession) process is now more clearly seen,” he added.
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#urges #Turkey #quickly #ratify #Swedens #NATO #membership
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

March 18, 2023
‘Turkey won’t approve Sweden’s NATO bid as long as Quran-burning protests continue’

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Ankara: Turkey will not approve Sweden’s bid to join NATO as long as it continues to allow Quran-burning protests, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, adding that his country looks positively on Finland’s application for membership of the military alliance.
“Sweden! Don’t even bother to try. We cannot say ‘yes’ to your joining NATO as long as you continue to allow burning and tearing of my sacred book, the Quran,” Erdogan said in an address to Parliament on Wednesday.
“Our view on Finland is positive, but not for Sweden,” he added.
Ankara’s backlash against Stockholm’s NATO bid comes after the latter’s permission for recent protests involving Quran burning in the Nordic country, as well as the issue of extradition of people affiliated with anti-Turkey groups.
The Swedish police allowed a protest in which a far-right politician burned a copy of the Quran outside the Turkish Embassy in Stockholm in January.
Sweden and Finland submitted their formal requests to join NATO in May 2022, which were initially opposed by Turkey, an alliance member, citing their support for anti-Ankara Kurdish organisations and political dissidents.
A month later, Turkey, Sweden and Finland reached a memorandum of understanding (MoU) ahead of the NATO summit held in Madrid.
Under the MoU, Turkey agreed to lift its veto on the NATO bids by Finland and Sweden, which in return pledged to support Ankara’s fight against terrorism and address its “pending deportation or extradition requests of terror suspects expeditiously and thoroughly”.

The Turkish parliament has not ratified the Nordic countries’ NATO bids so far, citing that they have yet to meet Ankara’s requests.
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#Turkey #wont #approve #Swedens #NATO #bid #long #Quranburning #protests #continue
( With inputs from www.siasat.com )

February 2, 2023
Erdoğan says Turkey won’t support Sweden’s NATO bid

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Sweden should not expect Turkey’s support for its NATO membership bid, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Monday following tensions over anti-Islam protests in Stockholm over the weekend.
He said at a press conference that if Sweden does not show respect to Turkey or Muslims, “they won’t see any support from us on the NATO issue.”
The statement follows protests against Turkey and in support of Kurds on Saturday in the Swedish capital, where anti-immigrant politician Rasmus Paludan, leader of the Danish far-right political party Hard Line, burned a copy of the Quran near the Turkish embassy.
Erdoğan said Monday the burning was an insult, especially to Muslims, and criticized Sweden for allowing pro-Kurdish protests where demonstrators waved flags including those of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party or PKK. The PKK is considered a terrorist group in Turkey, the European Union and the United States, but Sweden does not ban its symbols.
“So you will let terror organizations run wild on your avenues and streets and then expect our support for getting into NATO. That’s not happening,” Erdoğan said. Sweden should have calculated the consequences of permitting the demonstration, he added.
Over the weekend, Turkey condemned the demonstration as “vile” and canceled a planned visit by Sweden’s defense chief to Ankara, intended to address Turkey’s objections to Sweden joining NATO.
Ankara had already previously dragged its feet on pledging support for the accession bid, seeking conditions for approval such as the extradition of 130 political opponents from Sweden and Finland.
Sweden has played down the dispute with Turkey over NATO accession, with Foreign Minister Tobias Billström saying in a TV interview on Sunday that the issues are nearly resolved and that Turkey is “close” to starting the ratification process, after he called the Quran-burning “appalling” in a tweet on Saturday.

Sweden, together with Finland, decided to apply together for NATO membership in October last year. Hungary and Turkey are the only two countries that still need to ratify the joint NATO bid; Hungary last November pledged to do so.

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#Erdoğan #Turkey #wont #support #Swedens #NATO #bid
( With inputs from : www.politico.eu )

January 21, 2023