Sweden Moves Closer To NATO Membership

Turkey's parliamentary committee gave approval Tuesday.

December 26, 2023

The Associated Press,

The United Nations Security Council meets on North Korea, Monday, Sept. 4, 2017, at U.N. headquarters. (AP)

ANKARA, Turkey (AP)–The Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs committee has given its consent to Sweden’s bid to join NATO. The move on Tuesday draws the previously nonaligned Nordic country closer to membership in the Western military alliance.

Sweden’s accession protocol will now need to be approved in the Turkish parliament’s general assembly for the last stage of the legislative process in Turkey. No date has been set. Turkey is a NATO member that has delayed ratifying Sweden’s application for more than a year.

The Turkish government accused Sweden of being too lenient toward groups that Ankara regards as threats to its security. Those groups include Kurdish militants and members of a network that Ankara blames for a failed coup in 2016.