Turkey closer to approving Sweden’s NATO membership

The Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs committee approved Sweden’s membership of NATO, in a first step that now requires approval of the general assembly.

The vote brings Sweden a step closer to joining the Western military alliance more than a year since the Nordic country decided to ditch neutrality.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delayed action on Sweden's bid, arguing the country is too friendly toward Kurdish activists regarded by Ankara as terrorists.

Erdoğan has also linked the approval of Sweden's accession to the sale of F-16 fighter jets by the United States to Turkey — something that's currently pending approval by the US Congress.

The general assembly of the Turkish parliament now needs to give its final green light before Sweden can officially become a full NATO member. However, no date for this plenary vote has been set.

To join NATO a country requires unanimous approval of all current members in the military alliance.

Hungarian leader Viktor Orbán has also been stalling Sweden's accession bid, saying last week that there was no “great willingness” from Hungarian lawmakers to approve it. This makes Hungary the last NATO member country that hasn't started the ratification process.

Sweden and Finland both ditched their neutrality and asked to join the alliance in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Finland joined the alliance last April.