Turkey had blocked Sweden’s accession to NATO for months. Now the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Turkish Parliament has approved the expansion. But this is not the end of the Turkish blockade.
The Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs committee has voted to ratify Sweden’s accession to NATO after months of delay, removing a key hurdle to expanding the defense alliance.
After the vote, the entire parliament must now vote on accession. A time for the vote is not yet known.
Türkiye blocks Sweden’s accession
In view of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Sweden applied for NATO membership together with Finland in May 2022. Finland was admitted to the alliance as the 31st member at the beginning of April. In order for Sweden to join, it still needs approval from Turkey and Hungary.
The two countries are the last two NATO members whose parliaments have not yet ratified Sweden’s accession protocols. Turkey delayed ratification and accused Sweden of a lack of action against “terrorist organizations” such as the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) – and for this reason refused to give its consent.
After concessions from Sweden, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced at the end of October that he would allow ratification by the Turkish parliament – but since then it has been stuck in the committee. Erdogan recently conditioned his approval on the USA supplying modern F-16 fighter jets to Turkey.
Stoltenberg welcomes the decision
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the decision of the committee in the Turkish parliament. “I am counting on Turkey and Hungary to complete the ratification as soon as possible. Sweden’s membership will make NATO stronger,” said Stoltenberg.
Andreas Meyer-Feist, ARD Brussels, tagesschau, December 27, 2023 12:46 p.m