The Turkish parliament has approved Sweden’s NATO application after several hours of debate in the chamber.
Now all that remains is for Turkish President Erdogan to sign the documents.
– It is of course good that the Turkish parliament voted this through. Now we will wait for Erdogan’s ratification document. We are of course not finished with the process, says Foreign Minister Tobias Billström.
After four hours of debate in the Turkish chamber, the decision came at 9 pm on Tuesday – the Turkish parliament says yes to Sweden’s NATO application.
– It is of course good that the Turkish parliament voted this through. Now we will wait for Erdogan’s ratification document. We are of course not finished with the process, says Foreign Minister Tobias Billström and continues:
– The Swedish NATO process is not finished until all states that must ratify Sweden have done so.
Billström now hopes that the application can be ratified by President Erdogan as soon as possible.
– There is no reason to wait with it because the parliament has finished its part, says Billström.
Hope for Hungary
Now it is only the Hungarian parliament that has not approved Sweden’s NATO application. Billström now hopes that they can start with that process shortly.
– We naturally hope that the Hungarian parliament starts the process of ratifying us as soon as possible, says Billström.
During the day, Hungarian Prime Minister Orbán sent a letter to Swedish Prime Minister Kristersson, inviting him to Budapest to talk about Sweden’s application.
– I see no reason to negotiate in this situation, said Tobias Billström about Orbán’s invitation.
“One step closer to full membership”
Shortly after the announcement, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson also commented on the announcement on X.
“Today we are one step closer to full membership in NATO. It is positive that Turkey’s parliament has voted for approval of Sweden’s NATO application,” writes Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.