Turkey Sets Stage for Final Vote on Approving Sweden’s Long-Awaited NATO Bid

Selcan Hacaoglu, Firat Kozok and Beril Akman
·3 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Turkey moved closer to approving Sweden’s long-awaited accession to NATO with a key parliamentary committee backing the bid, paving the way for a vote by the full assembly in Ankara.

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Turkey’s Foreign Affairs Committee endorsed Sweden’s entry to the military alliance, clearing one of the final hurdles for Stockholm. The parliament is widely expected to follow suit when it votes, with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signaling he’s in favor and his ruling AK party and its allies having a comfortable majority in the chamber.

Sweden would help bolster the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and strengthen Europe’s defenses following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022. US President Joe Biden and European leaders have pushed Erdogan to approve the country inclusion. Turkey is the last hold-out in the bloc along with Hungary.

“Sweden has made amendments in its Constitution and laws that will allow it to be more effective in its counter-terrorism efforts and prevent terror activities,” said Fuat Oktay, the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee. “Sweden has removed open and veiled embargoes against our country,” he said during the discussions.

The Turkish committee’s decision follows a call between Biden and Erdogan earlier this month in which they discussed Sweden as well as Turkey’s possible purchase of 40 new F-16 fighter jets from the US. The White House has made Sweden’s accession a prerequisite for the sale of the warplanes to Turkey, while Erdogan’s also said the two issues should be linked.

An unnamed US State Department spokesperson told Turkish state-run Anadolu Agency that they welcomed the committee’s decision and looked forward to “swift passage by the full parliament.”

Oktay has said the decision’s pass from the committee does not necessarily mean it’ll also pass from the general assembly at the same speed. The committee began discussing the protocol in mid-November.

Moscow’s attack on Ukraine roiled European geopolitics and led to Finland and Sweden applying to join Brussels-headquartered NATO, whose members commit to defending each other against invasions by foreign powers. Finland joined in April. NATO has 31 members and has long been seen by Russian President Vladimir Putin as a hostile alliance.

All members must agree for new countries to join.

Why Turkey Is Still Blocking Sweden’s NATO Accession: QuickTake

Ankara wants Sweden to take further measures in cracking down on supporters of separatist groups outlawed in Turkey, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), designated as a terrorist organization by the EU.

Sweden’s laws on freedom of speech make it hard for the government to stifle public expressions of support for Kurdish independence. Still, at a NATO meeting in Lithuania in November, Stockholm gave more assurances to Turkey about its plans to tackle what Ankara says are acts of terrorism.

Hungary’s sign-off on the Nordic country’s membership is also pending, though it has suggested it will approve.

(Updates with comments from US spokesperson, Fuat Oktay starting in sixth paragraph.)

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