Turkish Parliament Approves Sweden's NATO Membership
After 20 months of Sweden’s application to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Turkey’s parliament finally approved Sweden’s membership on the 23rd. Hungary is the only member country that has not yet approved Sweden’s membership.
Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO simultaneously after the outbreak of the Russo-Ukrainian War in 2022. NATO member countries, except for Turkey and Hungary, quickly approved the applications. Turkey objected, insisting that the two countries protect terrorist organizations. In April of last year, Turkey approved Finland’s membership alone but still vetoed Sweden’s application. After several months of deliberation, the Turkish parliament finally passed the bill to approve Sweden’s membership with 287 votes in favor and 55 against. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will sign it into law in the coming days and submit it to the US State Department for filing in Washington.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, the White House, and NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg expressed their delight at the news. Currently, Hungary is the only NATO member country that has not yet approved Sweden’s membership. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban also expressed goodwill on the same day, inviting Kristersson to discuss Sweden’s accession to NATO, taking Sweden one step closer to becoming the 32nd member of NATO.
Countries applying to join NATO need the signatures of all NATO member countries to take effect. After Sweden joins, it is expected to strengthen NATO’s defense capabilities in the north. Russia has previously warned that if NATO strengthens Sweden’s and Finland’s military infrastructure, it will respond as necessary.
- 46 reads
