Sweden’s NATO bid in jeopardy after allowing Quran burning as Ankara seethes

After Swedish police granted permission to burn the Quran outside Stockholm's main mosque as part of a protest, the Islamic world is angry. Turkey's foreign minister criticised Sweden and said the diktat could further complicate Ankara's long-delayed approval of the Nordic nation's application to join NATO.

“I condemn the vile protest in Sweden against our holy book on the first day of the blessed Eid al-Adha,” saidHakan Fidan, the Turkish foreign minister, adding thatit was “unacceptable to allow anti-Islam protests in the name of freedom of expression”.

Turkey holds the cards

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Turkey holds Sweden's fortunes in its hands regarding membership to the security alliance. Stockholmhas been seeking a NATO spot since last year.So far, not much progress has been made on the issue as Ankara has refused to ratify Sweden's application.

The two countries have not been on cordial terms for long. In January, Turkey opened up an inquiry afteran effigy of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was burnt by Kurdish elements.

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Erdogan continues to blast Sweden for providing a safe haven to Kurdish 'terrorists'. The Turkish leader is also cross with the Nordic countries for imposing an arms embargo on Ankara after Turkey's intervention in the Syrian conflict in 2019.

"Until the promises made to our country are kept, we will maintain our principled position. We are closely following whether the promises made by Sweden and Finland are kept or not, and of course, the final decision will be up to our great parliament," Erdogan had said in the country's parliament last year.

Finland, finally, got the approval and joined NATO in April this year.

Notably, Sweden sped up its process to join the nuclear-armed alliance after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, last year.It submitted the official application in May but to become a member, all30 NATO allies need to sign the ratification document. Every country has signed the document, bar Turkey and Hungary.

What happened in Sweden?

After police had refused to authorise Quran burningin the capital city, saying the protests had made Sweden a "high priority target" for attacks, the protesters went to the court.

The appeals court ruled that the police were wrong to ban the protest, saying that “the order and security problems" referenced by the police did not have “a sufficiently clear connection to the planned event or its immediate vicinity."

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson did not outright condemn the removal of the ban and said,“It’s legal, but not appropriate. We live in a time when one should stay calm and think of what’s best for Sweden’s long-term interest."

(With inputs from agencies)

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