Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has agreed to support Sweden’s bid to join NATO, as confirmed by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. The Turkish leader will forward Sweden’s application to parliament in Ankara and ensure its ratification. The announcement marks a significant development as Turkey, as a NATO member, holds a veto over new countries joining the alliance.
Previously, Turkey had blocked Sweden’s application, accusing it of hosting Kurdish militants. However, after addressing Turkey’s security concerns, Sweden made amendments to its constitution, changed its laws, expanded its counter-terrorism operations against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), and resumed arms exports to Turkey. As a result, Turkey has now backed Sweden’s NATO bid.
The news has been met with positive responses from various leaders. US President Joe Biden welcomed President Erdogan’s commitment to swift ratification and expressed readiness to work with Turkey on enhancing defense and deterrence in the Euro-Atlantic area. German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak also praised the decision, emphasizing that Sweden’s NATO membership would contribute to collective security.
The agreement between Turkey and Sweden was reached during talks between their leaders in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, ahead of the NATO summit. While no final decision has been made regarding Sweden’s membership timeline, the development marks a significant step forward for Sweden’s NATO aspirations.
NATO leaders are gathering in Vilnius for the summit, where they aim to demonstrate their long-term military commitment to Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression. The issue of Ukraine’s membership bid will be a key topic of discussion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hopes for a clear signal from NATO regarding Ukraine’s future membership, although it is widely understood that the conflict with Russia must be resolved before formal membership can be considered.
The summit will also address plans to strengthen NATO’s forces in Eastern Europe to deter Russian aggression and increase financial commitments to defense. The leaders will discuss providing additional military support to Ukraine and explore ways to deepen institutional links between NATO and Ukraine.
The agreement between Turkey and Sweden on NATO membership paves the way for a productive summit that will shape the future direction of NATO and address security challenges in the Euro-Atlantic region.
