Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that Sweden welcomed the signing of the protocol on the kingdom’s accession to the North Atlantic Alliance by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan. He noted on the social network X (formerly Twitter) that he was looking forward to the country joining the alliance after all the procedures.
“We welcome President Erdoğan’s signing of the protocol regarding Sweden’s accession to NATO and presenting it to the Turkish Grand National Assembly. Parliamentary proceedings will now begin. “We are looking forward to becoming a member of NATO,” Kristersson wrote.
Sweden, along with Finland, has applied to join NATO in May 2022, overturning a long-standing refusal to join the military alliance. The integration of the two states has encountered resistance from Turkey, which has demanded changes from northern countries in the fight against terrorists, especially Kurdish groups associated with the 2016 Turkish coup attempt. While Helsinki resolved all its problems with Ankara by joining NATO in April 2023, Stockholm could not reach an agreement with the Turkish side for a long time. Only on July 10 did Erdogan agree to send the protocol regarding Sweden’s NATO membership to the Turkish Grand National Assembly as soon as possible and to work closely with MPs to approve the protocol. In addition to Ankara, Stockholm and Hungary have not confirmed participation, but Budapest guarantees that it will not be the last member of the alliance to approve this decision.
Previously in Turkey in the name The parliament will reject Sweden’s participation in NATO.