Sweden: Turkey has promised swift accession to NATO
Turkey has long blocked Sweden's accession to NATO. Now Ankara is said to have given assurances that it will ratify the application "within weeks". Sweden's Foreign Minister Billström is certain that Hungary will then no longer stand in the way of accession.
Sweden continues to hope for rapid accession to NATO. Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said on the fringes of the NATO meeting in Brussels that Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan had assured him that he expected the application for membership to be ratified by the parliament in Ankara "within weeks".
The Swedish accession file has been in the Turkish parliament since President Recep Tayyip Erdogan forwarded it in October. Hungary has also not yet ratified Sweden's accession to the defense alliance. According to Billström, Hungary has reaffirmed its commitment not to be the last country to ratify Sweden's accession to NATO. "This means that it is more in Ankara's hands than perhaps Budapest's," he said.
"We expect white smoke from Budapest as soon as there is white smoke from Ankara." In response to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the traditionally non-aligned Sweden applied for NATO membership together with its neighbor Finland in May last year. At the summit in Vilnius, Sweden pledged, among other things, to take tougher action against the Kurdistan Workers' Party, which is banned as a "terrorist organization" in Turkey.
- Despite Turkey previously blocking Sweden's entry into NATO, it has recently given assurances to ratify Sweden's application "within weeks."
- Following Turkey's commitment, Swedish Foreign Minister Billström is confident that Hungary will no longer hinder Sweden's accession to NATO.
- The Swedish application for NATO membership has been in the Turkish parliament since President Erdogan forwarded it in October, with Hungary yet to ratify it as well.
- During the NATO meeting in Brussels, Swedish Foreign Minister Billström shared that Turkish Foreign Minister Fidan assured him of the expectation for rapid parliamentary ratification by Ankara.
Source: www.ntv.de
