ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Sweden on Thursday welcomed Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s signature on Stockholm’s bid to join the NATO military alliance.
“Welcome Türkiye’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,” said Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
Turkey’s parliament on Tuesday approved Sweden’s ascension into NATO by a 287-55 vote after a lengthy delay. Erdogan on Thursday signed off on the parliament’s ratification.
The US also acknowledged the long-awaited approval. “We welcome Turkish President Erdogan’s signature of the Articles of Ratification for Sweden’s NATO membership. We look forward to receiving the instruments in Washington and welcoming Sweden as NATO’s 32nd Ally,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on X.
Turkey’s approval leaves Hungary as the last country to approve Stockholm’s membership.
On Wednesday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on X that in a phone call with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg he “reaffirmed that the Hungarian government supports the NATO-membership of Sweden.”
Sweden and Finland reversed their decades-long tradition of military non-alignment and applied to join NATO following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Helsinki’s application was approved unanimously by the alliance’s members following months of delay due to Ankara’s concerns, but Stockholm’s bid remained up in the air due to opposition from Turkey and Hungary.
The accession bill was submitted to the Turkish parliament by Erdogan in October, three months after he voiced approval for Stockholm’s bid to join the military alliance.
Unanimous approval by alliance members is required in order for new countries to join NATO and Turkey used this as leverage to pressure Stockholm and Helsinki to take action against Kurdish groups it considers “terrorists.”
Erdogan has repeatedly accused Sweden of harboring and supporting groups including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and sought the extradition of alleged PKK members in exchange for opening the door to NATO.
Sweden has a large and politically active Kurdish population.
