Swedish Foreign Minister due in Ankara

ANKARA

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström will pay a visit to Türkiye and meet with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.

A written statement from the Turkish Foreign Ministry said “Türkiye-Sweden bilateral relations will be discussed in the meetings to be held between our minister and the guest minister.”

Within the framework of the EU Presidency which Sweden will take over in January 2023, it is envisaged to exchange views on Türkiye-EU relations, Sweden’s NATO membership process and other regional and international issues, the ministry stated.

The Swedish minister will also visit the parliament.

Following the decision of a Swedish court to reject Türkiye’s request for the extradition of FETÖ member Bülent Keneş, it is expected that Çavuşoğlu and Billström will also discuss this decision.

“The refusal of our extradition request of Bülent Keneş was a very negative development. We are not expecting good words from Sweden and Finland but concrete steps,” Çavuşoğlu said on Dec. 20.

Türkiye, Sweden and Finland recently held meetings both at the political and technical level for the coordination of their admission into NATO. “Everyone must abide by the commitments outlined in the trilateral protocol,” Çavuşoğlu said.

Both countries have taken steps, and especially the new government in Stockholm has shown a positive approach so far, the minister said, “They even extradited one person although this person was not on our demand list. But if they think this will be enough, this is not a realistic assessment.”