Sweden says it can permit NATO troops on its soil even earlier than it joins the alliance.

BRUSSELS — As optimism that Sweden will quickly have the ability to be part of NATO rises, the Swedish authorities says it can permit the alliance to base troops on its territory even earlier than formally becoming a member of the group.

“The government has decided that the Swedish Armed Forces may undertake preparations with NATO and NATO countries to enable future joint operations,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Defense Minister Pal Jonson mentioned in an article for the Dagens Nyheter newspaper this week.

Those preparations may embody the “temporary basing of foreign equipment and personnel on Swedish territory,” they wrote. “The decision sends a clear signal to Russia and strengthens Sweden’s defense.”

Sweden utilized final yr to hitch NATO on account of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Objections from Turkey and Hungary have delayed the bid, and Sweden now hopes to hitch earlier than a NATO summit in Lithuania subsequent month.

A senior NATO-country ambassador mentioned there was extra confidence now that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, simply re-elected for one more five-year time period, would help Sweden’s membership.

Turkey’s new international minister spoke to his Swedish counterpart on Wednesday. And subsequent week, Jens Stoltenberg, the alliance’s secretary normal, will meet with representatives of Turkey, Sweden and Finland.

Mr. Stoltenberg has mentioned that Sweden has fulfilled Turkey’s calls for, however Mr. Erdogan blocked Sweden’s membership throughout his re-election marketing campaign, arguing that Stockholm has not carried out sufficient to battle terrorism — particularly from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or P.Ok.Ok., which the United States and the European Union think about a terrorist group — and that it has not extradited some folks Turkey needs.

But Sweden has within the final yr amended its Constitution and toughened its antiterrorism regulation, which went into impact on June 1. It has additionally lifted an embargo on arms gross sales to Turkey.

In addition, the Swedish excessive courtroom this week dominated that the federal government can extradite a Kurd who Turkey says is a supporter of the P.Ok.Ok. and is needed in Turkey. The man, Mehmet Kokulu, was convicted in 2014 in Turkey for hashish possession and was sentenced to 4 years and 7 months in jail. After his launch on parole, he legally traveled to Sweden in 2018, however Turkey has demanded his extradition, saying that he should full his jail sentence there.

Should the optimism about Sweden show correct, Hungary can be anticipated to go together with ratifying Swedish NATO membership.

As negotiations amongst NATO allies proceed earlier than the Vilnius summit assembly subsequent month, officers say there’s a rising consensus that Denmark’s prime minister, Mette Frederiksen, may succeed Mr. Stoltenberg on the helm of the alliance. Ms. Frederiksen, 45, can be the primary girl to carry the publish and not too long ago returned from a visit to Washington, the place on Tuesday she met President Biden and different officers whose help can be important.

A Social Democrat, she has been Denmark’s prime minister since 2019 and has promised to extend the nation’s army spending to succeed in NATO’s goal of two p.c of financial output.

A senior NATO official mentioned that France and others have been insisting {that a} new secretary normal come from a rustic that’s a part of the European Union, which might rule out Britain’s protection secretary, Ben Wallace, who has expressed curiosity within the job.

There can be the view, the official mentioned, that candidates from Central Europe and the Baltics are too carefully related to an aggressive stance on Russia and speedy Ukrainian membership of the alliance to have the ability to obtain consensus. All 31 NATO international locations should agree on a brand new secretary normal.