Turkey’s parliament approved Sweden’s accession to NATO after months of deliberations, leaving Hungary as the lone holdout to the defense alliance’s northern enlargement.
The parliament plenary in Ankara voted 287 to 55 to accept Sweden’s application on Tuesday, sending the document back to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for a final sign off before it can be deposited with the U.S. State Department in Washington. Erdogan has already backed Sweden’s membership and is widely expected to sign.
The move puts Sweden on the cusp of realizing its goal of becoming the 32nd member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a year and eight months after putting in an application that marked a turnaround in its defense policy. Moving in lockstep with neighboring Finland, Stockholm concluded in May 2022 that entering the alliance would be the best way to deter any aggression from Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. Finland joined NATO in April.
Sweden’s entry would bolster NATO, reinforcing its northern reach and improving its ability to defend the eastern flank. Sweden and Finland had previously shunned membership of military alliances, until Russian President Vladimir Putin’s military actions changed that calculus.
Turkey had dragged its feet on agreeing to Sweden’s proposal, which has to be signed off by all members. Ankara spent months insisting the Nordic country do more to crack down on supporters of separatist groups outlawed in Turkey, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, which is designated a terrorist organization by the European Union and the U.S.
Sweden’s response was that it complied with NATO’s own membership criteria, but separately tightened laws against terrorism and lifted arms export restrictions to Turkey.
Hungary Moves
In another sign of potential progress for Sweden’s membership, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in a post on social media site X, formerly Twitter, he invited Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson to Budapest for negotiations on the NATO bid.
Orban and his ministers have partly blamed Swedish criticism of Hungary’s democratic backsliding as one reason for not moving ahead with ratification in parliament. Hungary’s government has also said a courtesy call by Sweden’s leader to mend frayed ties could help to unblock the process.
Sweden’s Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom told reporters there is “no reason to negotiate” with the Hungarian government, though “the central thing for us is to continue to have a good and constructive dialog with Budapest.” In a letter dated Jan. 23, seen by Bloomberg, Orban invited Kristersson to Hungary “to exchange views on all issues of common interest.” It is not clear if he will accept.
Complex Web
Alongside Turkey’s issue with separatist groups in Sweden, the country’s deliberations were tangled in a more complex geopolitical web involving fighter planes.
Turkey has since 2021 sought to buy 40 Lockheed Martin Corp. F-16 Block 70 aircraft from the U.S. company and 79 kits to modernize its fleet. The country is overdue to retire its F-4 jets and wants to upgrade F-16s as a stopgap measure until it can develop its own warplanes.
U.S. President Joe Biden has made Turkey’s approval of Sweden’s NATO membership a prerequisite for the sale of those jets, and Erdogan has also linked the two issues. Turkey is now likely to expect the U.S. to move forward with the aircraft sale.
———
—With assistance from Zoltan Simon and Niclas Rolander.
___
©2024 Bloomberg L.P. Visit bloomberg.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
KeyWords:: ce56c46a-b2a5-4697-a237-5086048e3203
ce56c46a b2a5 4697 a237 5086048e3203
BC-NATO-SWEDEN:BLO
BC NATO SWEDEN BLO
