Sweden Gets Closer To NATO Membership: Turkish Panel Greenlights Bid To Join Alliance

Published 10 months ago
James Farrell
NATO Holds 2023 Summit In Vilnius
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) shakes hands with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (R) as the Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg (C) looks on during their meeting ahead of the NATO Summit on July 11 , 2023 in Vilnius, Lithuania. The summit is bringing together NATO members and partner countries heads of state from July 11-12 to chart the alliance's future, with Sweden's application for membership and Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine as major topics on the summit agenda. (Photo by Filip Singer - Pool/Getty Images)

TOPLINE

Sweden’s push to join NATO took a step forward Tuesday, after the Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs committee ended a year-long delay and voted to allow the historically Nordic country to join the Western military alliance, according to Turkish media outlets—a step that could help Sweden end its longstanding neutrality amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

KEY FACTS

Turkey’s full parliament still needs to approve the decision, though no date for a vote has been set.

Sweden’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Tobias Billström said on X the country welcomed the news and looks forward to becoming a member of NATO.

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To join NATO, countries need unanimous approval from all 31 existing member countries—Turkey and Hungary have been the lone holdouts in Sweden’s bid, and Hungary has not yet started the process of approving Sweden’s membership.

KEY BACKGROUND

Sweden and fellow Nordic country Finland both made moves to drop their historic position of neutrality by making a bid to join NATO in 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Finland successfully joined the alliance in April, but Sweden’s bid has taken longer, with Turkey and Hungary each stalling the process. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan previously raised objections about both Sweden and Finland’s memberships, citing concern that Sweden in particular has been too lenient on Kurdish groups that the country views as terrorists. Last year, Turkey, Finland and Sweden struck a deal to bring Sweden and Finland into NATO, with Sweden offering to pass new anti-terrorism laws. Erdogan has suggested he could approve Sweden’s NATO bid if the United States lets Turkey buy F-16s.

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TANGENT

Hungarian President Viktor Orban said last week that there was “no great willingness” among Hungary’s parliament to rush a vote on Sweden’s NATO membership, according to Reuters. Hungarian leaders have said Sweden has unfairly accused Hungary of eroding democratic rights—as Orban has frequently been accused of authoritarian tendencies. The country’s parliament will reportedly resume in mid-February.

BIG NUMBER

32. That’s how many countries would make up the NATO alliance if Sweden’s membership is ultimately approved.

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