After months of opposition from Turkey over Sweden joining NATO, Turkey’s president has agreed to back the country’s bid, the head of the military alliance announced Monday.
“This is a historic step which makes all NATO allies stronger and safer,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg tweeted.
Stoltenberg said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will send Sweden’s NATO accession protocol to the Turkish parliament following talks.
The about-face comes after Erdoğan seemed to condition support for Sweden’s bid with officials reviving talks for Turkey’s membership in the EU.
The announcement comes on the eve of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Background:
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Turkey was the last country resisting Sweden’s accession to NATO, which requires ratification by all 31 members. Finland formally joined the alliance earlier this year in the wake of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
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Ankara has argued the Swedish government is too lenient with the Kurdish Workers Party, which Turkey, the U.S. and the EU consider to be a terrorist group.
Erdoğan said earlier Monday that Turkey would approve Sweden joining the alliance if Turkey was allowed into the EU.
“The details surrounding the agreement between Erdoğan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson were not immediately available,” The Hill’s Laura Kelly reported after Stoltenberg’s announcement.
President Biden arrived in Lithuania on Monday ahead of the NATO summit, which takes place Tuesday and Wednesday.
“The 31-member alliance is seeking to project unity and solidarity as one of Ukraine’s most important supporters as it pushes back Russia 16 months into the war,” Kelly wrote.
Read the full report on Sweden’s accession and the summit here
