Turkey supports Sweden joining NATO, says Stoltenberg

Sweden’s application to join the military alliance has finally received support from Turkey, according to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, who described Ankara’s action as “historic”.

Late on Monday, Stoltenberg announced on Twitter that President Erdogan had agreed to send Sweden’s accession protocol to the Grand National Assembly as soon as possible in order to ensure ratification. “Glad to announce that after the meeting I hosted with (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan & Swedish PM (Ulf Kristersson), President Erdogan has agreed to ensure ratification.

“This is a historic move that strengthens and increases the safety of all NATO allies.”

The declaration was made during a meeting between the presidents of Sweden and Turkey in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, where the two-day NATO Summit will start on Tuesday.

The BBC notes that Turkey had previously spent months rejecting Sweden’s application on the grounds that it was harbouring extremist Kurds.

Turkey has a veto over any new member entering NATO as one of its 31 members.

The NATO chief said in a separate statement that Sweden and Turkey had resolved “Turkey’s legitimate security concerns,” as a result of which Sweden had changed its laws, expanded its counterterrorism operation against the PKK, and resumed arms exports to Turkey.

A large number of NATO members hailed the declaration made Monday night.

US President Joe Biden responded to the information by praising his Turkish counterpart’s pledge to go forward with “swift ratification”.

“I am willing to collaborate with President Erdogan and the Turkish government to strengthen defence and deterrence in the Euro-Atlantic region. A statement from the White House said, “I look forward to welcome Prime Minister Kristersson and Sweden as our 32nd NATO partner.

While British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that the addition of Sweden will “make us all safer,” German Foreign Minister Annalen Baerbock tweeted that “At 32, we’re all safer together.”

“A historic step in Vilnius,” said Ursula Von Der Leyen, president of the EU Commission. I applaud Turkey for taking the significant step of ratifying Sweden’s NATO membership.

Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Sweden and its eastern neighbour Finland declared their desire to join NATO in May of last year.

In April of this year, Finland officially joined the alliance.

The two-day NATO summit will mostly centre on Ukraine’s membership, which President Volodymyr Zelensky has pushed for months despite the current conflict.

However, all NATO countries agree that Ukraine cannot join the alliance while the war is ongoing because of concern that this would trigger a direct confrontation with a nuclear-armed Russia, according to the BBC.

Zelensky has acknowledged that he does not anticipate membership until after the conflict, but he still wants the Summit to send “clear signal” about Ukraine’s application.