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© Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Erdogan to visit Budapest next month as Turkey and Hungary hold up Sweden's membership in NATO
By JUSTIN SPIKE BUDAPEST, Hungary©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
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JJE
Sweden needs to be held accountable for their actions.
The have spread some pretty atrocious rumours about Hungary and continue to harbour some unsavoury characters.
Results and large cash payments up front (including F16s) otherwise it will be more broken promises and the old NATO bait and switch.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Thanks for admitting it is all about lira. And bait and switch like "there will be no invasion"?
JJE
Negative.
Turkey will require certain people residing in Sweden extradited before ratification, guarantees on arms shipments as well as F16s upfront.
Hungary will require several things - unblocking of funds that are rightfully theirs, guarantees of no sanctions on their energy sector and large upfront collateral against this future possibility. The Swedes have shown them disrespect and will need to compensate them too.
Nothing that isn't theirs or rightfully theirs.
TaiwanIsNotChina
More like Hungary will ratify the day before Turkey like with Finland.
JJE
Unlikely. There were broken promises then too. It'll be more of the same if they just take their word for it. The goods will have to be on the table upfront.
Desert Tortoise
Time to boot both Hungary and Turkiye from NATO. Neither nation upholds the values that NATO was formed to protect.
JJE
The ongoing threat to boot Turkey from NATO is nothing but hot smoke from the rear end trumpet - Turkey is more valuable in then out and the real estate of basing makes it very valuable (think Incirlik Air Base for just one example, not to mention the Bosphorus).
Moreover unlike when it joined in 1952 it was far less developed and basically signed up to get protection from the USSR. The calculus doesn't exist anymore.
Which means it could easily align with other countries. Basically, NATO needs Tukey more than Turkey needs NATO.
TaiwanIsNotChina
The Turkish Straits are controlled by the Montreaux Convention. Turkey being in NATO doesn't offer much more than that other than it's manpower.
So Turkey can go its own way, no problem. They won't be missed.
Going their own way doesn't mean they will sign up for Russian bases. There is hundreds of years behind that animosity.
JJE
And the Montreaux Convention basically says Turkey decides how the straits work.
JJE
Turkey has very cordial relations with Beijing. No reason they couldn't develop further except that handbrake called NATO.
Many of its immediate security interests contradict with that bloc (Kurds, Israel etc).
TaiwanIsNotChina
It says no such thing. The only way Turkey can avoid closing the straits to Russia is by refusing to declare a war is going on. That's going to be a pretty untenable position in the event of war between NATO and Russia.
Desert Tortoise
With Slovenia, Croatia, Albania, Romania and Bulgaria as NATO members NATO's southern flank is well protected. Turkiye has lost much of its strategic value.