The overseas affairs committee of the Turkish parliament on Tuesday gave its approval for Sweden to affix NATO, reported Turkey’s Anadolu information company.
This brings Sweden a step nearer to becoming a member of the Western army alliance. It additionally comes after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delayed motion on Sweden’s bid for a yr, arguing the nation is simply too pleasant towards Kurdish activists regarded by Ankara as terrorists.
Erdoğan has additionally linked the approval of Sweden’s accession to the sale of F-16 fighter jets by the USA to Turkey — one thing that is presently pending approval by the U.S. Congress.
The overall meeting of the Turkish parliament now wants to offer its ultimate inexperienced gentle earlier than Sweden can formally grow to be a full NATO member. Nonetheless, no date for this plenary vote has been set.
The unanimous approval of all present NATO member international locations is required for any new state to affix the army alliance.
Hungarian chief Viktor Orbán has additionally been stalling Sweden’s accession bid, saying final week that there was no “nice willingness” from Hungarian lawmakers to approve it. This makes Hungary the final NATO member nation that hasn’t began the ratification course of.
Sweden and Finland each dropped their neutrality and requested to affix the alliance within the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Finland joined the alliance in April.