defensive alliance
Sweden’s NATO accession – Erdogan: ratification in October
“It could be October”: Recep Tayyip Erdogan photo
© Pavel Golovkin/AP/dpa
Sweden is at NATO’s door, but Turkey still holds the key. According to Turkish President Erdogan, the National Assembly could ratify the accession protocols in October.
After the basic approval of Turkey will probably have to wait several months for Sweden to join NATO.
When asked by a journalist when parliament would ratify the accession protocols, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said after the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania: “It could be October.” The Grand National Assembly is expected to go on summer break soon and will not meet again until October.
At a press conference, Erdogan asserted that he wanted to complete the accession process “as quickly as possible,” without giving a time frame. He believes Sweden will soon take “concrete steps” to address Turkey’s concerns, Erdogan added.
In view of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership in May 2022. Finland was welcomed as the 31st member of the alliance in early April, while Sweden continued to lack approval from Turkey and Hungary.
On Monday, after talks with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Erdogan gave up his blocking stance. Kristersson agreed to a statement in which Sweden committed to presenting a counter-terrorism plan. This was the country’s response to Turkey’s accusation of not taking sufficient action against “terrorist organizations” such as the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK – in addition to steps that had already been taken.