- Sweden applied for full membership in NATO in May 2022, along with Finland.
- The latter became a full member state in April 2023, but member states Hungary and Turkey are making Sweden wait.
- At the NATO summit in July, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan agreed to let Sweden join the alliance.
- However, the Turkish parliament has not yet approved it.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (left) and Sweden’s Ulf Krister shake hands in front of NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg ahead of the meeting on the eve of the NATO Summit in Vilnius on July 10, 2023. Prime Minister Son.
Eve Herman | AFP | Getty Images
BRUSSELS — Sweden expects Turkey to approve NATO membership “within weeks” after months of deadlock over Stockholm’s future in the alliance, the country’s foreign minister tells CNBC. Ta.
Sweden applied for full membership in NATO in May 2022, along with Finland. The latter became a full member state in April 2023, but member states Hungary and Turkey are making Sweden wait.
Turkey raised the issue of Sweden’s cover-up of Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) militants. Meanwhile, Hungary has expressed concern over earlier comments by Sweden criticizing Hungary for lacking democratic values.
At the NATO summit in July, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan agreed to let Sweden join the alliance. However, the Turkish parliament has not yet approved it.
“I held bilateral talks with my colleague, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan. Prime Minister Fidan told me that he expects ratification to take place within the next few weeks,” Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Bilström said in Brussels on Wednesday.
“Of course we are not taking anything for granted from the Swedish side, but we expect this to be completed and no new conditions have been presented in this meeting and no new terms have been presented from the Turkish government. There was no request,” Minister Billström said. he told reporters.
Asked by CNBC what guarantees he had received from Hungary, Bilström said he had spoken to his counterpart in Brussels and also said Budapest “would not be the last country to ratify” Stockholm’s accession.
“Yesterday I asked my colleague, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó, if he would still keep his promise that Sweden would not be the last country to ratify. It’s not going to become a country.’ So it’s probably more in the hands of Ankara than Budapest,” the Swedish minister said.
“The moment white smoke comes out of Ankara, we can expect white smoke to come out of Budapest,” he added.
