The Turkish parliament approved Sweden’s membership in NATO – 2024-04-03 07:49:52

On January 23, the Turkish parliament approved Sweden’s application for NATO membership.

Alliance member Turkey did not ratify Sweden’s request for more than a year. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan He wanted Stockholm to fulfill some conditions. The first demand was for Sweden to hand over members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) it had given asylum to. Turkey considers them terrorists.

Ankara also demanded the lifting of Sweden’s embargo on arms supplies to the country. In addition, Erdogan criticized the burning of the Koran in Sweden and wanted it banned.

After the meeting with Biden

Erdogan, who met US President Joe Biden in July, said that his country will no longer prevent Sweden from joining the alliance. He signed the relevant protocol in October.

Now the president must re-sign the document ratified by the parliament. After that, one more obstacle remains on the path of Sweden’s NATO membership, which is Hungary. New members to NATO are accepted by unanimous decision.

Together with Finland, Sweden applied for NATO membership in May 2022. Both countries abandoned their long-standing policy of neutrality following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February of that year. Sweden already participates in major NATO exercises.

After these countries are admitted to NATO, the Baltic Sea, which is considered important for Russian trade, will remain within the de facto alliance. Russia’s border with NATO will reach 2600 km from 1215 km. A large part of it falls to Finland, which has already become a member of NATO.

Freedom radio