This brings the Nordic country one step closer to joining the military alliance after months of delays, CNN reports.
The Turkish parliament voted Tuesday to approve Sweden’s NATO membership bid.
This brings the Nordic country one step closer to joining the military alliance after months of delays, CNN reports.
287 out of the 346 members of parliament who voted were in favour of Sweden’s accession while 55 voted to reject it. Four others abstained from voting.
The vote was the second step of Turkey’s ratification process after the parliament’s Foreign Affairs Commission approved the bid last month.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan can now sign the protocol into law.
The outcome on Tuesday cleared a significant hurdle for the Nordic country’s accession into the military alliance, with Hungary now set to be the only member state that has not yet ratified Sweden’s accession.
However, on Tuesday, Hungary’s Prime Minister Victor Orban said he had invited his Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson to visit Hungary to negotiate the terms of Sweden’s accession.
Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership in May 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier that year.
Finland joined NATO in April 2023, doubling the alliance’s border with Russia, but Sweden has faced numerous delays in its path to accession.
Erdogan initially objected to Sweden’s membership bid, accusing Swedish officials of being too lenient on militant groups, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Since applying, Sweden has tightened its anti-terror legislation and agreed to work more closely with Turkey on security concerns.
Erdogan’s approval of Sweden’s accession bid also rides on a commitment by the United States, with the Turkish president signalling that he won’t sign the protocol into law unless the US approves the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey.
US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Ben Cardin said on Tuesday that Congress, however, is waiting to see the accession documents completed before moving forward on the matter.
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