Sweden Gets Closer to Joining NATO After Turkish Committee Vote
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Turkey’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee gave the green light to Sweden joining NATO on Tuesday, putting the Nordic country one step closer to membership in the alliance. In order to officially be approved by Turkey, Sweden must also gain approval from Turkey’s general assembly. No date has been set for the general assembly to discuss Sweden’s entry into NATO yet. Turkey has been delaying Sweden’s membership bid, supposedly because it blames Sweden for being too lenient on Kurdish militants it says are a security threat. (The country’s leader, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is also in regular contact with Russia, which heartily opposes Sweden’s pivot to NATO.) Deputy Foreign Minister Burak Akcapar noted before the vote in parliament that Sweden had begun to meet Turkish demands such as restricting defense industry sales and changing their anti-terrorism laws. Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström tweeted after the decision, “The next step is for parliament to vote on the matter. We look forward to becoming a member of NATO.”
