Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has approved Sweden's membership in the Western security alliance NATO, the Swedish Prime Minister announced on Thursday.
“We welcome Prime Minister Türkaje's approval of Sweden's ratification of NATO membership. With this, we have reached an important milestone on Sweden's path to NATO membership,” said Ulf Kristersson. Posted in Xthe platform formerly known as Twitter.
Turkey's parliament voted 287-55 on Tuesday to approve membership, Turkish news agencies said.
Hungary was the last country to approve Sweden's membership in NATO.
On Tuesday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán invited Kristersson to discuss ratification. Some Hungarian members have expressed concerns about Budapest's relations with the Nordic countries.
Sweden, along with Finland, applied to join NATO in 2022, shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine raised security concerns. Finland was quick to accept, but Hungary and Turkey delayed Sweden's acceptance process.
Prime Minister Orbán posted online on Wednesday that he spoke by phone with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and “reaffirmed the Hungarian government's support for Sweden's membership in NATO.”
“I also underlined that I will continue to urge the Hungarian Parliament to vote in favor of Sweden and conclude the #ratification at the first possible opportunity.” Orbán said.
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
