Economy 24 October 2023, 8:17am

Erdoğan takes Sweden's bid for NATO membership to parliament for ratification

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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Monday submitted a bill approving Sweden's NATO membership bid to parliament for ratification, his office said, a move welcomed by Stockholm as it clears the way for it to join the Western defence alliance, Reuters reported.

Erdogan pleased his NATO allies at a summit in July by promising to send the legislation to parliament when it reopened on Oct. 1, having previously raised objections over Sweden's alleged harbouring of individuals who Turkey says are members of terrorist groups.

The Protocol on Sweden's NATO Accession was signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on October 23, 2023 and referred to the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye,

the presidency said on social media platform X without elaborating.

Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson welcomed the move. "Parliamentary procedures will now commence," Kristersson said on X.

It is unclear when the parliament will discuss, vote on or ratify Sweden's application for NATO membership. It is also not entirely guaranteed that the proposal will pass through the legislature, but it would be surprising if politicians from the ruling party alliance voted against the president's proposal. Moreover, Sweden's bid to join NATO has the backing of the opposition.

In a note to NATO members on their next foreign ministers' meeting on Nov. 28 and 29, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg raised the prospect that Sweden could join the alliance at the meeting, according to a European diplomat.

If the Turkish Parliament also approves Sweden's application for membership, it will only need to be approved by the Hungarian legislature.

"Hungary has said several times it does not want to be last in this process," Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom told Swedish news agency TT.

"Now that the ratification process has started in Ankara, we assume that the same will happen soon in Budapest."

Sweden and Finland, have given up their long-time neutrality and applied together in the summer of 2022 to join NATO in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last February.