Shoring up NATO alliance tops Biden agenda on Europe trip

President Biden wanted Sweden to join NATO as a sign of western unity against Russia. But Turkey is standing in the way.

SCOTT DETROW, HOST:

President Biden is heading to Europe tomorrow. His primary mission – shore up the NATO alliance. NPR White House correspondent Asma Khalid is already in London, where Biden will visit first, and joins us now. Hey, Asma.

ASMA KHALID, BYLINE: Hi there, Scott.

DETROW: So the president has staked a lot on his ability to rebuild NATO and strengthen alliances with Europe. What’s at stake here?

KHALID: Well, Scott, I should just acknowledge why I’m in London here, and that is because, as you said, Biden’s going to begin his trip here in the United Kingdom. It’s the first time he’ll be meeting King Charles since Charles was officially named king. But really, the focus of this entire Europe trip is the NATO summit in Vilnius. That’s in Lithuania. And Biden heads there on Monday. A key unresolved issue heading into this NATO summit is Sweden’s membership. You might recall both Sweden and Finland applied to join the alliance after Russia invaded Ukraine. And it’s been more than a year now since that application process, and the Sweden issue is still unresolved. The main opposition has been coming from Turkey.

DETROW: Yeah. Finland got in. In fact, Biden’s visiting Finland later in the trip. But there are 31 members of NATO. They all have to agree to allow a new member in. What is Turkey’s opposition to Sweden?

KHALID: Well, experts tell me that broadly, Turkey has long felt like its priorities are overlooked by the NATO alliance, and Turkey believes Sweden needs to do more to crack down on groups that Turkey views as terrorists. It has been demanding Sweden extradite suspected Kurdish militants. But, Scott, I will also say that experts tell me that this entire debate is not really entirely about Sweden. It’s much more about the U.S.-Turkey dynamic. Sinan Ciddi is a fellow with the Foundation…