Defense alliance: Turkish parliament approves Sweden’s accession to NATO

Sweden is one step closer to its long-awaited membership in NATO. Around 20 months after the application was submitted and after repeated blockades, the Turkish parliament approved the country’s entry into the defense alliance in the evening.

Now President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has to sign the decision again and then publish it in the official gazette. This is considered almost certain – but it is eagerly awaited whether he will complete the Turkish ratification in a timely manner. In addition, the NATO country Hungary still has to officially agree to Sweden’s admission. All other 29 Allies have already done this.

Kristersson: We’re one step closer to membership

The Swedish government welcomed the decision. “Today we have come one step closer to full membership in NATO,” wrote Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on the online platform X immediately after the vote in Ankara. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on Hungary to follow suit. He is now also counting on Hungary to complete its national ratification as quickly as possible.

The federal government called the decision “important and right.” The upcoming accession of Sweden, like the admission of Finland, will further strengthen the North Atlantic Alliance as a whole,” said government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit.

In view of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership in May 2022. Finland was welcomed into the alliance as the 31st member at the beginning of April last year.

It initially remained unclear whether Turkey’s consent was dependent on concessions in negotiations over arms deals. Erdogan had tied his country’s approval to, among other things, fighter jet deliveries from the USA. So far, however, the approval of the US Congress is still lacking.

Clear approval in the Turkish parliament

The approval of Sweden’s application was now clear in Ankara: 287 parliamentarians voted for it in the evening in Ankara, 55 against it, and 4 members abstained. Only 346 of 600 members of the Turkish parliament took part in the vote.

Turkey had repeatedly justified its blockade with what it saw as Sweden’s inadequate deployment against “terrorist organizations”. Ankara is primarily concerned with the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party PKK and the Syrian Kurdish militia YPG. There was also anger over the approval of Koran burnings in Sweden, which met with sharp criticism from Ankara.

After various concessions from Stockholm, Erdogan announced at the end of October that he would allow approval by the Turkish parliament. However, he later linked the ratification to the USA supplying modern F-16 fighter jets to Turkey. Hungary, meanwhile, was bothered by Swedish statements about the rule of law and corruption in the country.

Now it’s up to Hungary

The blockade was repeatedly criticized by Germany and other allies; in Sweden, the period of uncertainty in view of the Russian invasion of Ukraine led to growing frustration. Despite the invasion, Turkey and Hungary maintain good relations with Russia and are critical of Western sanctions.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had always emphasized that his country did not want to be the last to ratify Sweden’s accession to NATO. After it became clear that Ankara was putting NATO membership on the agenda, Orban stated on the online platform

If Orban ultimately raises his thumb, ratification in the Hungarian parliament will probably only be a formality. However, Parliament in Budapest will not meet again as planned until February.