By Athena Papakosta

All eyes are now on Vilnius, Lithuania, although the crucial NATO Summit begins tomorrow, Tuesday.

In a few hours from now the Secretary General of the Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg will have a meeting with the Prime Minister of Sweden, Ulf Christerson and the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The purpose is to give the green light and to reach a political agreement for the much-desired – for Stockholm but also for the West – Sweden’s accession to NATO.

The president of Turkey, however, does not seem to be in a hurry and the belief that “immediately after the re-election of Erdogan, the way for Swedish integration opens” turns into a simple “who knows… Maybe?”, as aptly noted by Foreign Policy. weeks before.

Turkish bargaining has been in full swing since late spring last year, with Ankara even at the last minute putting up obstacles to ratifying the Nordic country’s membership.

For his part, the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, last Thursday declared himself optimistic. It was preceded by a four-way meeting with the participation of high-ranking officials from Sweden, Turkey and Finland at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

For Stoltenberg, “it is time for Sweden to join the Alliance.” As he explained, “I was clear that Sweden has fulfilled its obligations under the tripartite memorandum” while adding that “we all agree that it is in the interests of all Allies and we all want to complete this process as soon as possible.”

The president of the United States will also be present in Vilnius, Joe Biden who makes strengthening NATO his top priority.

The occupant of the White House already spoke by phone with his Turkish counterpart and, according to the announcement of the Turkish presidency, they agreed to meet in the framework of the work of the Synod in the capital of Lithuania.

As it became known, the two leaders discussed by phone the F-16 issue as well as the procedures for Stockholm’s accession to NATO.

It is a fact that the United States is trying not to link Sweden’s accession to Turkey’s request for F-16 fighters. In words, the Turkish president has the same opinion but, for months, Ankara has been trying to get the US Congress to approve their sale to Turkey.

For Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Sweden has made some strides but its progress is being undermined by pro-Kurdish separatist protests in the country.

“How can Turkey trust a country where terrorists are pounding its streets? (…) Those who do not fight against terrorism, how will they fight against the enemies of NATO?” stressed the Turkish president a few 24 hours ago, asking that “everything that was promised to us in Madrid” be respected.

Now he himself is preparing to “present all this to the Allies during the Summit” and then, as he pointed out, “we will make the best decision, whatever it is.”

The meeting between the Secretary General of NATO with the Prime Minister of Sweden and the President of Turkey is scheduled for this afternoon and everyone is waiting to know whether this new diplomatic effort will make any real progress or the thriller will go to penalties.