The Turkish Parliament ratified this Tuesday, January 23, Sweden’s accession to NATO, the end of twenty months of negotiations which tested the patience of Ankara’s Western allies, eager to form a united front against Moscow. The Swedish candidacy, which now only requires the green light from Hungary, was approved by Turkish MPs with 287 votes for and 55 against. Sweden, on the verge of becoming the 32nd member country of the Atlantic Alliance, announced its candidacy in May 2022, at the same time as Finland, admitted last April.
In the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the two neighboring countries broke with decades of neutrality after World War II, then military non-alignment since the end of the Cold War. To satisfy Ankara’s demands, Sweden went so far as to reform its Constitution and adopt a new anti-terrorism law, with Turkey accusing the Nordic country of leniency towards Kurdish militants who had taken refuge on its soil, some of whom were considered terrorists by Ankara.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan added at the beginning of December as a condition for ratification the “simultaneous” approval by the American Congress of the sale of F-16 fighter planes to Turkey, further delaying the green light from his Parliament. Ankara also demanded that Canada authorize the sale to Turkey of an optical component used in the manufacture of combat drones.
Last act in Budapest
The American government is not hostile to the sale of F-16s but Congress has blocked it until now due in particular to recurring tensions between Turkey and Greece, also a member of NATO, although relations between both countries have warmed up in recent months. Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke by telephone last month with US President Joe Biden, who argued that Turkey could obtain the required congressional approval if Swedish membership was ratified.
The last act before Sweden’s entry into NATO will now be played out in Hungary, the only other country in the Alliance to have maintained close ties with Moscow despite the invasion of Ukraine. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban invited his Swedish counterpart to Budapest this Tuesday to try to remove the last obstacles to a green light from his Parliament. Budapest, which gave its support in principle to Sweden’s entry but has been dragging its feet for months, is calling on Stockholm to stop its policy of “denigration” towards the Hungarian government, accused of authoritarian drift.
The Swedish Foreign Minister responded curtly to the invitation, saying that his country had “no reason” to currently negotiate with Hungary. “During the Madrid summit last year, Hungary (…) granted Sweden guest status” with a view to joining NATO, without making any reservations, underlined Tobias Billström.