Day: January 24, 2024

The Turkish Parliament passed a bill regarding the approval of Sweden’s long-delayed NATO accession bid on Tuesday, according to Azerbaijan in Focus, reporting Daily Sabah.

The ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) and the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) approved the bill, while the Good Party (IP), Felicity Party (SP), and other parties opposed it.

Some 346 lawmakers participated in the voting process and 287 of them voted in favor of the bill, while 55 voted against it.

Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson welcomed the move.

“Today we are one step closer to becoming a full member of NATO,” Kristersson said on social media platform X. “Positive that the Grand General Assembly of Turkiye has voted in favour of Sweden’s NATO accession,” he said.

The U.S. also welcomed the parliament’s approval, according to a statement made by White House National Security Advisor to President Joe Biden.

“We welcome the Turkish parliament’s vote approving Sweden’s application to join @NATO. This has been an important priority for @POTUS. Sweden is a strong, capable defense partner whose membership in NATO will make the U.S. and the Alliance safer and stronger,” Jake Sullivan said on X.

Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs approved the protocol on Sweden’s NATO accession bid in December, bringing an end to a 19-month standoff that strained ties between Ankara and its Western allies.

The protocol must now be voted by the full 600-seat General Assembly, where President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling People’s Alliance holds the majority. If passed by Parliament, the president will then need to sign it into law.

The Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), partner to Erdoğan’s Justice and Development Party (AK Party), announced Tuesday it would back the legislation at the parliamentary voting.

Türkiye’s ratification would leave Hungary as the last holdout in an accession process that Sweden and its neighbor Finland began in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago.

Finland became the 31st member of the U.S.-led defense alliance last April.

Its membership roughly doubled the length of NATO’s border with Russia and substantially strengthened the defenses of three tiny Baltic nations that joined the bloc following the Soviet Union’s collapse.

Sweden and Finland pursued a policy of military non-alignment during the Cold War era confrontation between Moscow and Washington.

But Russia’s invasion of its western neighbor set off Europe’s biggest and most brutal land battle since World War II, upturning geopolitical calculations.

Hungary has followed Türkiye’s lead throughout the NATO accession process and was expected to approve Sweden’s without significant resistance.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Tuesday invited his Swedish counterpart to Budapest to discuss the bid.

But hints emerged on Tuesday of strains between Stockholm and Budapest.

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said he saw “no reason” to negotiate with Hungary about Stockholm’s NATO candidacy “at this point.”

In a letter to Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Orban said that “a more intensive political dialogue could contribute to reinforcing the mutual trust” between the two countries, allowing them to “further strengthen our political and security arrangements”.

“I invite you to visit Hungary at your earliest convenience to exchange views on all issues of common interest,” Orban wrote in the letter seen by AFP.

On X, the former Twitter, Orban said he had invited Kristersson to Hungary “to negotiate” on Sweden’s NATO accession.

Sweden’s foreign minister Tobias Billstrom replied however that there was “no reason to negotiate” with Hungary though Sweden was open to discussions.

“The main thing is that this letter does not talk about negotiations, but about discussions, which is of course what we want,” he said.

“I make a difference between what is written on Twitter and what is written in the letter. The letter is the official communication from Budapest to our government,” he added.

Hungary has often denounced what it called Sweden’s “openly hostile attitude”, accusing Swedish representatives of being “repeatedly keen to bash Hungary” on rule-of-law issues.

Last week, Hungary criticized Sweden for not taking steps to strengthen bilateral relations.

Orban’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, on Thursday, suggested the Swedish government “should get in touch, ask what concerns the Hungarian parliament has and what they can do about it.”

The post Turkish Parliament approves Sweden’s NATO membership appeared first on Azerbaijan In Focus.