A key parliamentary committee of the Turkish Parliament on Tuesday (26 December) approved Sweden’s application to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) after several months of delay. Sweden had applied to join NATO after Russia attacked Ukraine, after which the approval from the Turkish Parliament made its path forward easier.
On Tuesday, an opposition lawmaker told AFP that a Turkish parliament committee approved Sweden’s bid to join NATO, clearing another hurdle for the Nordic country to join the US-led defence organization. Happened.
Admitting new members to NATO requires the approval of all existing members, and in Sweden’s case, it was delayed due to opposition from Turkey and Hungary. Sweden faces more difficulties in this process because Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has been against Sweden’s inclusion in NATO.
Sweden and Finland Applied
In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine, after which Sweden and Finland departed from their decades-old stance of military non-alignment and applied to join NATO. However, Finland did not face problems during this period like Sweden, and all the countries included in NATO, including Turkey and Hungary, had approved Finland.
Finland joined the NATO alliance in April this year, and thus, Finland became the 31st member of NATO. On the other hand, even after 19 months of the initial application, Turkey and Hungary had not yet approved Sweden. Still, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Turkish Parliament has approved it. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed Sweden’s NATO accession protocol and submitted it to the Parliament in October.
