Turkey is reluctant to go forward with approving the admission of Sweden and Finland into NATO, based on what it calls a lack of “concrete action” regarding individuals in Sweden and Finland who support the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), a group which the Turkish government suspects of staging a failed coup in Turkey in 2016. Sweden’s new Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, in a joint news conference with Turkish President Recep Erdogan, pledged to take steps to address Turkey’s concerns. Admission into NATO requires approval from all 30 member states; Turkey and Hungary have yet to approve the applications from Sweden and Finland.
