The Turkish parliament in Ankara voted 287-55 to approve Sweden’s accession.
Now Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan just needs to sign the ratification into law.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson took a victory lap after the Tuesday vote.
“One step closer to becoming a full member of NATO,” his office said in a statement.
In the U.S., White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan applauded the development.
“Sweden is a strong, capable defense partner whose membership in NATO will make the U.S. and the alliance safer and stronger,” Sullivan said.
Erdoğan held up Sweden’s accession to NATO out of concern for Stockholm’s lenience on Kurdish militants. He also tied support for Sweden with sales of U.S. F-16 fighter jets to Ankara as well as Canada lifting an arms embargo on his country.
Sweden has since worked on Turkey’s concerns, and a July meeting at a NATO summit saw Kristersson and Erdoğan agree on a plan to strengthen ties.
Following the vote, Hungary remains the lone holdout. Some members of Hungary’s parliament have accused Sweden of telling lies about the state of Hungarian democracy.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced Tuesday he sent a letter to Kristersson for a meeting to discuss ratification.
Anna Wieslander, director for Northern Europe at the Atlantic Council, said Hungary may seek to further hold up the process.
“For NATO and the twenty-nine allies that want to see Sweden as ally number thirty-two as soon as possible, concerns are growing,” Wieslander wrote.
Along with Finland, Sweden applied to join in 2022, shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine and renewed security concerns across Europe. All members of the 31-nation member alliance must approve a country’s bid to join.
Read the full report at TheHill.com.
