Swedish authorities approved a Quran-burning demonstration outside of a mosque in the center of Stockholm on Wednesday. The burning will coincide with the Muslim holiday of Eid-al-Adha, one of the most significant in the Islamic calendar.
The decision to allow such an inflammatory protest may threaten Sweden's chances of joining NATO, due to objections from Turkey.
NATO officials are in a race against time to avoid the embarrassment of seeing the alliance miss its own stated aim of admitting Sweden to the alliance by July 11 -- the date of its next official summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius. Officials fear that missing this deadline will send a humiliating and potentially dangerous message to the alliance's adversaries.
Turkey -- a strategically important NATO member due to its geographical location in both the Middle East and Europe, and the alliance's second-largest military power -- has proven the greatest obstacle to Sweden's NATO accession.
Earlier this year, Turkish-Swedish relations suffered a major blow following a rally outside Stockholm's Turkish Embassy during which an anti-immigration politician set a copy of the Quran alight.
The incident sparked anger in the Turkish capital, Ankara, where protesters took to the streets and burned the Swedish flag outside the Swedish embassy in response.
At the time, the then Turkish foreign minister reportedly blamed the Swedish government, saying it had "taken part in this crime by allowing this vile act" to go ahead, according to state news agency Anadolu.
