Turkish Parliament Approves Sweden Joining NATO

The Washington Post reports:

After 20 months of demands, obstruction and delay, the Turkish parliament on Tuesday night voted in favor of Sweden joining NATO, clearing one of the final hurdles for a major expansion of the military alliance set in motion by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan still needs to sign the ratification document.

Assuming he does, Hungary would be the last remaining holdout. Officials there have previously signaled they would not, ultimately, stand in the way. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced, somewhat cryptically, that he had invited the Swedish prime minister to visit to “negotiate on Sweden’s NATO accession.”

Read the full article.

Today we are one step closer to becoming a full member of NATO. Positive that the Grand General Assembly of Türkiye has voted in favour of Sweden’s NATO accession.

— SwedishPM (@SwedishPM) January 23, 2024

Breaking news: After 20 months of demands, obstruction and delay, the Turkish parliament voted in favor of Sweden joining NATO, clearing one of the final hurdles for a major expansion of the military alliance set in motion by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. https://t.co/hYkDhOvgfy

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) January 23, 2024