Türkiye moves to ratify Sweden’s NATO bid

ANKARA

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has sent a motion to the Turkish Parliament to start the ratification process of Sweden’s accession to NATO.

“The Protocol on Sweden’s NATO Accession was signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan on Oct. 23, 2023, and referred to the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye,” read the brief statement by the presidency on X.

The protocol will first be discussed at the Foreign Affairs Committee at the Parliament before being submitted to the General Assembly. Simple majority of the 600-seat parliament suffices for the ratification of the protocol.

Sweden and Finland had applied to join the alliance in May 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Türkiye greenlighted Finland in early 2023 while delaying Sweden’s process due to Stockholm’s failure to meet Türkiye’s demands on the fight against terror and multiple anti-Türkiye and anti-Muslim protests in the country.

An agreement between Türkiye and Sweden was reached in July 2022 on the sidelines of the NATO Summit for the former to approve the Nordic state’s bid to enter the alliance. President Erdoğan recently spoke with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on the phone about NATO enlargement.

NATO believes Sweden and Finland’s admission will further strengthen the deterrence of the alliance against Russia in northern Europe at a moment while Russian aggression against Ukraine continues.