The Turkish parliament on Tuesday approved Sweden’s bid to join NATO in a major boost for the transatlantic alliance, which is now poised to gain its second new member in less than a year after Finland’s accession last April.
Separately, Hungary also signaled Tuesday it may be on the verge of dropping its own opposition to Sweden joining NATO. The two developments in key NATO capitals represent significant movement on NATO’s long-running effort to bring Sweden into the fold, and also underscore how the Western military alliance has only grown stronger in the nearly two years since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
Turkish legislators ratified Sweden’s accession protocol by 287 votes to 55, with four abstentions. The ratification will come into effect after its publication in the country’s Official Gazette, which is expected to happen in the coming days.
The vote in Turkey ends a long-running saga that saw Ankara stand in the way of Sweden’s NATO membership bid for over 18 months. NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg hailed the Turkish vote, saying he hoped Sweden would become the alliance’s 32nd member “as soon as possible.”
“Sweden’s membership,” he added, “makes NATO stronger and us all safer.”
Finland and Sweden both dropped longstanding foreign policies based on official neutrality in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ironically, Russian President Vladimir Putin defended the decision to invade as a reaction to previous rounds of NATO expansion which had brought the alliance deep into Eastern Europe.
The opposition was driven largely by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s insistence that Sweden do more to crack down on Kurdish groups operating in Sweden that Ankara considers to be terrorists, along with other objections among top Turkish officials.
Turkey has long been critical of Sweden and Finland for their approach toward the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, a rebel group with links to the Syrian Democratic Forces, or SDF. The SDF has been the chief U.S. partner in the years-long fight against the terror group the Islamic State in Syria. Sweden in particular is home to a large community of Kurdish exiles.
Turkish officials in recent weeks have praised some of the tangible steps taken by Sweden to address Turkey’s concerns, including amending some anti-terrorism laws. Sweden also has pledged closer cooperation with Turkey on anti-terrorism efforts.
NATO, U.S. and European officials have lobbied hard behind the scenes to convince Turkey to change its position. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, for example, met with Mr. Erdogan earlier this month during a whirlwind tour across the Middle East, and the State Department confirmed that Sweden’s bid to join NATO was a key topic of their discussion.
Tuesday’s vote indicates those efforts were successful.
In Hungary, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on social media Tuesday that he’s extended an invitation to Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson to come to Budapest to discuss Sweden’s NATO membership. In a letter to the Swedish prime minister, Mr. Orban wrote that “a more intensive political dialogue” could contribute to “reinforcing the mutual trust” between Sweden and Hungary. He said the two men can discuss ”future cooperation in the field of security and defence as allies and partners” during their meeting.
Mr. Orban has said he supports Sweden joining NATO, but there is deep opposition among other Hungarian officials who object to comments made by Swedish lawmakers about the current state of Hungary’s democracy. Hungary also has closer ties to Russia than virtually any other NATO member, and the Kremlin deeply opposes Sweden’s accession to NATO.
Some Swedish officials signaled Tuesday that Mr. Orban’s letter won’t lead to an immediate thawing of tensions between the two nations.
“I don’t see any reason to negotiate in the current situation, though … we can have a dialogue and continue to discuss questions,” Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said Tuesday, according to English-language media accounts.
Mr. Orban publicly vowed that Hungary will not be the last country to stand in the way of Sweden joining NATO. But Tuesday’s events in Turkey mean that his country will, in fact, be the last to approve accession.
Even before Sweden formally joins the ranks of NATO, the country has been steadily deepening its military cooperation with the bloc. This week, about 90,000 troops from all NATO countries and Sweden are taking part in Exercise Steadfast Defender 2024, a major NATO military exercise that runs through May.
• This article was based in part on wire service reports.
• Ben Wolfgang can be reached at bwolfgang@washingtontimes.com.
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