NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said he welcomed the decision of the Turkish parliament and expected completion of ratification by Hungary “as soon as possible.”
On Tuesday, January 23, the Turkish parliament approved Sweden's application to join the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO). SVT writes about this.
Of the 346 parliamentarians, 287 are reported to have voted for Sweden's membership in NATO. 55 people were against it, the rest abstained. The vote was preceded by approximately four hours of debate.
As journalists note, Hungary has now become the only NATO country that has not ratified Sweden’s application.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg noted that he expects ratification to be completed by Hungary “as soon as possible.” He also said that he welcomed the decision of the Turkish parliament.
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“All NATO countries agreed in Vilnius to invite Sweden to our alliance, and Sweden fulfilled its obligations. Swedish membership makes NATO stronger and makes us all safer,” journalists quote Stoltenberg.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson reacted to the decision of the Turkish Parliament on his page on the social network X.
“Today we are one step closer to becoming a full member of NATO. It is positive that the Grand General Assembly of Turkey voted for Sweden to join NATO,” the head of the Swedish government wrote.
Let us remind you that on May 18, 2022, Sweden and Finland officially submitted applications to join NATO. Swedish Ambassador to the Alliance Axel Wernhoff and his Finnish counterpart Klaus Korhonen handed over the letters of application that had previously been signed by their foreign ministers.
On October 25, 2023, media reported that Turkey had begun the process of ratifying Sweden's application to join NATO. The protocol on the accession of another European country to the Alliance was signed by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, after which this decision was approved by Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş.