Turkey’s president approves Sweden’s NATO bid

by Lauren Irwin - 01/25/24 7:35 PM ET

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan addresses the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021 at UN headquarters. (Eduardo Munoz/Pool Photo via AP)

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has approved Sweden’s accession into the Western security alliance NATO, Sweden’s Prime Minister announced on Thursday,

“Welcome Türkeiye’s approval of the ratification of Sweden’s NATO accession. With this, a key milestone has been reached in Sweden’s path towards NATO membership,” Ulf Kristersson posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Turkey’s Parliament voted Tuesday to approve the accession 287-55, according to Turkish outlets.

Hungary is the last country to approve Sweden’s bid to join NATO.

On Tuesday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán invited Kristersson to discuss the ratification. Some Hungarian members have expressed concerns about the Nordic country’s relations with Budapest.

Sweden, along with Finland, applied to NATO in 2022, just after Russia invaded Ukraine and ramped up concerns about security. While Finland’s acceptance was quick, Hungary and Turkey have held up the process for Sweden.

Orbán posted online Wednesday that he had a phone call with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg where he “reaffirmed that the Hungarian government supports the NATO-membership of #Sweden.”

“I also stressed that we will continue to urge the Hungarian National Assembly to vote in favor of Sweden’s and conclude the #ratification at the first possible opportunity,” Orbán said.