Parliament unlikely to vote on Sweden's NATO bid for weeks

ANKARA

Türkiye's parliament is unlikely to hold a full vote on Sweden's bid to join NATO before mid-January, parliamentary sources have told AFP.

Sweden's accession to the U.S.-led Western alliance was approved by the foreign affairs committee on Dec. 26, bringing an end in sight to a 19-month standoff.

The bid must now be voted by the full 600-seat parliament, where the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP)-led People's Alliance holds the majority. President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan would then need to sign it into law.

Although Erdoğan's party could call for a special session to discuss the measure, it appears likely it will wait until after parliament's scheduled return on Jan. 15.

The Nordic country, together with its neighbor Finland, abandoned decades of military non-alignment and sought to join NATO after Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Türkiye and Hungary were the only NATO members to oppose their applications. The former eventually ratified Finland's bid but continued to accuse Sweden of failing to crack down on terror organization members.

In response, Sweden tightened its anti-terrorism legislation, and Erdoğan lifted his objections to Sweden's application at a NATO summit in July.

Ankara made Türkiye's ratification of Sweden's application conditional on the U.S. Congress "simultaneously" approving Ankara's request for 40 F-16 jets and spare parts.

Even though the U.S. administration has promised to move forward with the sale, its approval has met resistance from Congress.

Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan discussed Sweden's NATO membership in a phone call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Dec. 27, a diplomatic source said, a day after the protocol was greenlighted by the parliament committee.

Fidan told Blinken that Türkiye now expects the U.S. administration and Congress "to act in line with the spirit of alliance and to fulfill the commitments made" with regard to the F-16s.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg hailed the parliamentary committee's approval of Sweden's NATO bid, urging Türkiye and fellow holdout Hungary to complete their ratifications "as soon as possible."

As the parliament will be in a two-week recess, a timetable also "depends on the negotiations with the Americans," another parliamentary source told AFP.