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By December 10 at the latest, the Turkish parliament must vote on the Swedish NATO application. This means that Sweden will have a slower process than Finland, but the ratification does not appear to be dragged out.
Documents on the Turkish parliament’s website show that the Swedish NATO application is to be processed during the autumn session. In practice, this means that the vote will take place no later than December 10, as the parliament will then turn to putting all its energy into processing the country’s budget, says a source to TT.
When Finland’s application was ratified, the process took about two weeks. But Sweden does not get such a fast process.
Instead, it will be the normal procedure, which usually takes about four to six weeks.
Green light from Erdogan
President Erdogan sent the documents for ratification to parliament last week. On Thursday, the parliament’s foreign affairs committee begins to seriously consider the autumn’s matters, including the Swedish application. The defense committee must also give its opinion on whether Sweden can be approved.
Once the committees have done their work, the issue will go on for a vote in the main chamber of parliament, no later than December 10. Theoretically, Sweden can become a full member at the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels on November 28-29 if Turkey makes a decision before then, but it could therefore be somewhat later.
Some signals from Turkey recently have suggested that the Swedish application could end up in an even longer process, as it is downgraded by the parliament. Then the ratification could have dragged on into next year. But it won’t be like that.
Fire clap and question mark
The big blow is that this is the procedure that applies unless something happens that disturbs the Swedish-Turkish relationship, for example a new Koran burning in Sweden.
Another question mark is how Hungary will act. Previously, the Hungarian government has said that the country will not be the last to approve the Swedish NATO application. But last week the government came with demands to get an explanation from the Swedish government about the criticism that Swedish politicians have directed at the country’s democratic development.
FACT Sweden’s path towards NATO
Sweden applied for membership in NATO, in parallel with Finland, on 18 May 2022.
On July 5, 2022, Sweden and Finland received formal status as prospective members, “invitees” in English.
For Finland, the process ended in April this year when membership became completely clear after Hungary and Turkey became the last NATO countries to ratify the country’s application.
For Sweden, 29 out of 31 countries have ratified – Turkey and Hungary remain.
In connection with the NATO summit in Vilnius at the beginning of July, an agreement was concluded between Turkey, Sweden and NATO. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan then promised to “as soon as possible” send the Swedish application to parliament for ratification.
Hungary has said that an approval is only about “technicalities” and that the country should not be last to ratify. But the decision has been postponed several times.
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