EPA
NOS News•today, 9:30 PM•Adjusted today, 9:55 PM
As expected, the Turkish parliament has approved Sweden’s NATO membership. This means that another important hurdle has been overcome for the Swedes to join the military alliance. Only NATO member state Hungary now has to agree.
Swedish Prime Minister Kristersson is happy with the news. “Today we are one step closer to NATO membership,” he said on X.
Lengthy negotiations
Turkish President Erdogan has objected to Swedish accession for more than 1.5 years. In the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland had jointly decided to join NATO, but Erdogan initially saw no point in this.
For example, he demanded that countries first take measures against “terrorists” residing in Sweden and Finland. He was referring to radical Kurds and members of the Gülen movement, who are held responsible for an attempted coup in Turkey. Koran burnings in Sweden were also a thorn in Erdogan’s side.
Finland joined last year
After negotiations, Ankara agreed to Finnish accession. The Finns became a member of NATO in April last year. Sweden subsequently made a series of concessions towards Turkey. In July, Erdogan indicated that there would be a green light for Sweden, but the official process still took more than six months.
NATO membership brings a high degree of protection. An attack on one member is considered an attack on all, currently 31, members. The assumption is that Russia will therefore never attack a NATO country.
The question now is whether Prime Minister Orbán of Hungary also agrees to Swedish membership. Secretary General Stoltenberg expects that Hungary will give the green light once Turkey has done so.
2024-01-23 20:30:45
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