Turkish Parliament ratifies Sweden's membership in NATO
This Tuesday, January 23, the Turkish Parliament approved Sweden's membership in NATO by an overwhelming majority.
This decision, which was eagerly awaited, marks the end of twenty months of negotiations between Ankara and Stockholm.
The Swedish application now only requires the green light from Hungary.
The Turkish Parliament has removed one of the final obstacles to Sweden's entry into the Atlantic Alliance (illustration).
AFP - ADEM ALTAN
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With this ratification, Turkey
removes one of the final obstacles to
Sweden's entry
in the Atlantic Alliance, requested in the spring of 2022 by Stockholm following the offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine.
The Swedish candidacy was approved by Turkish MPs with 287 votes in favor and 55 against.
“
Today we have taken
another step towards
full membership in NATO
,” reacted Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on the social network X (formerly Twitter).
Sweden, on the verge of becoming the 32nd member country of the Atlantic Alliance, announced its candidacy in May 2022, at the same time as Finland, admitted last April.
Today we are one step closer to becoming a full member of NATO.
Positive that the Grand General Assembly of Türkiye has voted in favor of Sweden's NATO accession.
— SwedishPM (@SwedishPM) January 23, 2024
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg applauded this ratification.
“
I welcome the vote of the Turkish National Assembly to ratify Sweden's membership in NATO.
I also count on Hungary to complete the ratification as soon as possible
,” Mr. Stoltenberg said in a statement.
“
Sweden’s membership will make NATO stronger
,” he added.
The White House also “
welcomed
” the decision of the Turkish Parliament.
“
The upcoming accession of Sweden, like that of Finland which has already taken place, will further strengthen the Atlantic Alliance
,” argued the spokesperson for the German government, Steffen Hebestreit.
It is “
a direct reaction to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine
,” he recalled.
Likewise, for the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Espen Barth Eide, Sweden's membership in NATO will make the Nordic countries “
more secure
”.
Turkey, one of the last shields for Sweden's entry into NATO
Turkey was, with Budapest, the last NATO member to still block Sweden's entry into NATO.
This vote
puts an end to a wait of more than a year and a half on the part of
Ankara's Western allies for the ratification of this accession.
When he announced, in the spring of 2022, that he would be in no hurry to open the doors of NATO to Sweden, Recep Tayyip Erdogan was not exaggerating.
The Turkish president will have bargained for his support until the end.
To justify this long delay, Turkey has continued to brandish its “
concerns
” regarding security, reports our correspondent in Istanbul,
Anne Andlauer
.
She accused Sweden of sheltering individuals it accuses of “
terrorism
”, notably members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Negotiations between Ankara and Washington
As a result, to satisfy Ankara's demands, Sweden went so far as to reform its Constitution and adopt a new anti-terrorism law.
Since the beginning, however, it is mainly with Washington that Ankara has negotiated.
With, as bargaining chip,
the purchase of around forty F-16 fighters
.
This contract, supported by the White House, also requires the green light from Congress.
According to the agreement reached between Tayyip Erdogan and Joe Biden, just after the vote in the Turkish Parliament, the US State Department must notify Congress of its approval of the sale of the F-16s.
A Congress notoriously hostile to Tayyip Erdogan, and which has the right to object.
For the Turkish president, lifting his veto against Sweden is therefore taking a political risk, and subjecting Turkish-American relations to a test of trust.
Sweden invited to Hungary
To validate Sweden's entry into NATO, Hungary now remains the only holdout.
If the country has given its support in principle, it has been dragging its feet for months.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban demands “
respect
” from Stockholm, whose policy of “
denigration
” and his regular remarks on the authoritarian drift of the Central European country he denounces.
The head of the Hungarian government nevertheless invited his Swedish counterpart to Budapest this Tuesday to try to remove the last obstacles to a green light from his Parliament.
The Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs, however, responded curtly to the invitation, saying that his country had “
no reason
” to currently negotiate with Hungary.
“
At the Madrid summit last year, Hungary (...) granted Sweden guest status
"with a view to joining NATO, without reservations, underlined Tobias Billström.
On the other hand, he said he was ready for “
discussions
”, noting “
the many common points
” and “
military cooperation
” between the two countries.
Also read: The issues surrounding Turkey's blocking of Sweden's accession to NATO
(
And with
AFP)
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