By Athena Papakosta

The thriller extends to the issue of Sweden joining NATO after the quadripartite meeting in Brussels and everything seems to be decided on a razor’s edge.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, immediately after the conclusion of the quadripartite meeting of top officials from Turkey, Sweden and Finland at NATO headquarters in Brussels, stressed that on Monday, July 10, he will convene a meeting between the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Sweden’s Prime Minister Olaf Kristerson in a last-ditch effort to remove Turkish obstacles before the crucial Summit in Vilnius on July 11 and 12.

As Jens Stoltenberg announced, Sweden “has done everything necessary to join the Alliance” underlining that its admission “would be a great advantage for NATO”. He added that “we will be stronger with Sweden inside” to add that “Turkey, Sweden, Finland and NATO agree that the full integration of Sweden is in the interest of all Allies”.

“The time has come for Sweden to join the Alliance. I have been clear that Sweden has fulfilled the commitments of the tripartite Memorandum”, he pointed out.

For his part, Sweden’s foreign minister, Tobias Billström, called the four-way meeting “very good” adding that progress had been made. However, he referred to the crucial meeting on Monday from which, as he said, “we hope for a positive decision”.

At the same time, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan insists that Turkey must be sure that Sweden’s accession to NATO will not pose a risk to the Alliance in terms of fighting terrorism. “We are concerned that Sweden, in the security system, does not produce a mechanism that prevents provocation,” he said, stressing that “we need to know if Sweden will be a safe ally for Turkey.”

It was also preceded by the telephone communication of the Turkish president with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, in which he admitted that Stockholm has taken some steps “in making changes to its anti-terrorist legislation” but that the pro-Kurdish organizations remain a thorn as, as he emphasized, “they continue to freely organize demonstrations praising terrorism, which nullifies the steps taken.

According to analysts, the message from Washington to Ankara has arrived as two 24 hours ago the Prime Minister of Sweden was received at the White House by the American President, Joe Biden. In this meeting the president of the United States reiterated that “the United States fully, fully supports Sweden’s membership in NATO” stating, in fact, that he is looking forward to the country’s membership with the Swedish Prime Minister thanking him noting that “we particularly appreciate the your strong support. It means a lot to us.”

For its part, however, Ankara insists on bargains, exerting suffocating pressure. The question remains whether her own message has reached the other side of the Atlantic. This is none other than Turkey’s coveted F-16 fighter jets for which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is demanding an answer. If he will receive it, experts say, that remains to be seen next Monday or even on the day of the start of the work of the Summit in Vilnius, next Tuesday, July 11.