Sweden is using its presidency of the EU Council to keep European countries mobilised in their support for Ukraine, and to try to enforce the current sanctions on Russia more effectively. Sweden's EU Affairs Minister Jessika Roswall speaks to Talking Europe about those issues, as well as Sweden's application to join NATO, and Stockholm's other priorities in its EU presidency, which is now two months into its six-month stint.

Finland and Sweden's NATO membership bids remain blocked by members Turkey and Hungary. Germany's top diplomat Annalena Baerbock said she expected their NATO accession to take place "without further delay."

An anti-NATO rally in Stockholm that would have included the burning of a Quran has not been allowed to go ahead. It comes after a similar incident sparked threats from NATO member Turkey.

The Turkish president reiterated Ankara's demands that Sweden extradite "terrorists." Finland and Sweden have made a joint bid to join the military alliance, ending decades of non-alignment.

People in Turkey are protesting a Quran burning that occurred in Stockholm last week. The controversy could stall Sweden's NATO bid, which needs Ankara's approval.

In northern Sweden, EU and Swedish officials have inaugurated the first spaceport for satellite launches on the European Union mainland.

Kurds living in Sweden are concerned over an agreement reached between the Swedish and Finnish governments and Turkey, which has threatened to block the two countries from joining NATO over their alleged harboring of Kurdish militants.

Kurdish and anti-Islam protests in Sweden have angered Turkey, threatening the Nordic countries' joint NATO application. Turkey has thus far blocked the pair's NATO bid.

Around 200 protesters, mostly students, held a demonstration in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka on Monday, Jan. 23, condemning the burning of Muslim’s divine book, the Quran, in Sweden.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has pushed Sweden and Finland to seek to join NATO. All but two of the military alliance's 30 members have ratified the accession. European officials seem confident Hungary will eventually agree, leaving Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as the chief obstacle.

In December, Sweden extradited Mahmut Tat, a Turkish Kurd whom Ankara accuses of belonging to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which it considers a terrorist organisation

A Swedish court's refusal to extradite a Turkish journalist, wanted for alleged links to the 2016 coup, has soured negotiations over Sweden's NATO ascension.