Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said on Wednesday any increase in extraditions as a result of the agreement struck with Turkey to let the Nordic country join NATO would depend on what information was received from Turkish authorities.

"It depends on what information we do get from Turkey in this area," she told Reuters. "In all extraditions we continue to follow Swedish and international law and, of course, follow the European Convention on extraditions."

Sweden and Finland took a significant step toward membership of NATO as Turkey lifted a veto on them joining on Tuesday after the Nordic countries agreed to a series of security measures.

As part of the deal, Sweden and Finland agreed not to support militant Kurdish groups in northeastern Syria which Turkey says are linked to the PKK, which is terror-listed by both the United States and the European Union.

"What is in the statement is something that Sweden is already doing," Andersson said on the sidelines of the NATO summit in the Spanish capital.

"It is that we will not support them in a way that could be a threat to Turkey's internal security - like providing arms of financial support - and this is not anything that Sweden is doing today." (Reporting by Belen Carreno; writing by Niklas Pollard; Editing by Simon Johnson)


Reuters