Turkey approves Sweden’s Nato membership bid

Turkey’s parliament ratified Sweden’s Nato membership bid on Tuesday evening, clearing the biggest remaining hurdle to expanding the Western military alliance after 20 months of delay.

Turkey’s general assembly, where President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling alliance holds a majority, voted 287-55 to approve the application that Sweden first made in 2022 to bolster its security in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

All Nato members need to approve applications from countries seeking to join the alliance. When Sweden and Finland asked to join in 2022, Turkey raised objections over what it said was the two countries’ protection of groups it deems terrorists.

It endorsed Finland’s membership in April last year but, along with Hungary, had kept Sweden waiting.

The United States welcomed Turkey’s approval of Sweden’s bid to join Nato, White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a post on X.com.

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom also welcomed the Turkish parliament’s approval. “We now look forward to President Erdogan signing the ratification document,” Billstrom said in a written statement.

Erdogan is expected to sign the legislation within days, leaving Hungary – whose Prime Minister Viktor Orban has friendly relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin – as the only member state not to have approved Sweden’s accession.

Orban said earlier on Tuesday he had invited his Swedish counterpart to visit and negotiate his country joining the bloc. Hungary’s parliament is in recess until around mid-February.

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the Turkish move and said: “I also count on Hungary to complete its national ratification as soon as possible.”