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ISTANBUL – After 20 months of demands, obstructions and delays, Turkey's parliament voted Tuesday night to allow Sweden to join NATO, clearing one of the final hurdles to a sweeping expansion of the military alliance set in motion by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan still has to sign the ratification document.
Assuming he does, Hungary would be the last holdout. The officials there had already signaled that they would ultimately not stand in the way. On Tuesday, Prime Minister Viktor Orban somewhat cryptically announced that he had invited the Swedish prime minister to visit “to negotiate Sweden’s accession to NATO.”
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson seemed to answer Only about the Turkish vote did he write on X, formerly Twitter: “Today we are one step closer to full membership in NATO.”
The vote resulted in 287 yes votes, 55 no votes and four abstentions.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed the result and added: “I also count on Hungary to complete its national ratification as quickly as possible.” All NATO allies agreed in Vilnius to invite Sweden to join our alliance and Sweden has fulfilled its obligations.”
If both Turkey and Hungary join in, the alliance could formally welcome its 32nd member and potentially seal the deal before its 75th anniversary this spring.
Four maps explain how Sweden and Finland could transform NATO's security
Sweden's entry into NATO would be a historic change for a country that has long pursued a policy of military non-alignment. It would strengthen NATO's air and sea capabilities and improve the alliance's position in the Baltic Sea and the Arctic.
US Ambassador to Turkey Jeff Flake thanked the Turkish parliament for its vote. wrote“Sweden’s accession to NATO is a crucial step in strengthening the alliance, which is more important now than ever.”
It would also remove a source of Western discord valued by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Illegally annexed by Russia in March 2014
NATO countries not shown:
Portugal, Iceland, United States and Canada
Illegally annexed by Russia in March 2014
NATO countries not shown:
Portugal, Iceland, United States and Canada
NATO countries not shown:
Iceland, United States and Canada
Illegally annexed by Russia in March 2014
After Putin sent tanks into Ukraine and shook Europeans' sense of security, ruling parties in Sweden and neighboring Finland embraced joining NATO, concluding that they would be safer within the alliance, even if joining would further anger Russia .
The ruling parties in Sweden and Finland support NATO membership amid historic changes
The two Nordic nations submitted coordinated bids. But each of NATO's 30 member countries had to agree, and Turkish leader Erdogan quickly emerged as the main obstacle, using the process to secure concessions and score domestic political points.
Even after Finland was allowed to join, Erdogan continued to protest against Sweden and called on the country to take stronger action against groups that Turkey sees as terrorist entities, including the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and a movement accused of attempting to do so , toppling Turkey's government in 2016. Erdogan got Stockholm to continue counterterrorism cooperation and lift an arms embargo on Turkey.
However, analysts believe that Turkey's main goal is to conclude a deal to purchase F-16 fighter jets from the US as well as modernize its current fleet. After Erdogan publicly abandoned his opposition to Sweden's NATO membership in July, the Biden administration said it intended to move forward with the transfer of F-16 aircraft to Turkey.
The deal faced opposition from senior members of Congress — although one of the most vocal opponents, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), is no longer chairman of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee. His successor, Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), has not commented on the sale. While some senior lawmakers said the vote in Sweden would clear the way for the F-16, others insisted there were broader problems with Turkey, including human rights abuses and ongoing Turkish attacks on Kurdish U.S. allies in Syria.
“Turkey has been a disloyal NATO ally for most of the time that President Erdogan has been in office – so this is welcome news,” said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.). “However, I still have questions about Erdogan's continued attacks on our Syrian Kurdish allies, his aggressive actions in the Eastern Mediterranean and the role he played in supporting Azerbaijan's military attacks against Nagorno-Karabakh. We need more answers and assurances on these concerns from both Turkey and the Biden administration before Congress moves forward with F-16 sales.”
According to a White House summary, President Biden had a phone call with Erdogan on December 14, during which he discussed, among other things, Sweden's offer and “further improving Türkiye's NATO interoperability.”
Secretary of State Antony Blinken also discussed Sweden's NATO membership in a meeting with Erdogan this month.
To move forward on the F-16 aircraft, the administration would have to submit a formal notice to Congress, after which lawmakers would have 30 days to object. Or the government could circumvent the process by declaring an “emergency” requiring immediate delivery, as it has done twice recently for Israel.
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Hungary may also try to force concessions. Like Erdogan, Orban has ties to Putin. The Hungarian leader regularly acts as a spoiler of multinational agreements that run counter to Moscow's interests, including EU sanctions against Russia and aid to Ukraine.
Orban says he objects to Swedish criticism that democracy in Hungary has eroded under his rule. But he said the same thing about Finland and then quickly abandoned his opposition to that country joining NATO when Turkey did so.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 has changed the security landscape in Europe, spurring increased defense spending by countries that had steadily reduced their armed forces since the end of the Cold War and revitalizing NATO after years of questioning about the alliance's relevance.
Sweden had previously expressed no interest in becoming a full NATO member and had adopted a stance of neutrality and non-alignment in the early 19th century, officially remaining on the sidelines of the alliance during major conflicts, including the world wars.
But while this attitude remained central to the country's self-image, Sweden gradually strengthened its ties to NATO. It joined the Alliance's Partnership for Peace in 1994, became an Enhanced Opportunities Partner in 2014 – following Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula – and signed a host country agreement in 2016. Sweden has contributed to NATO-led missions in Bosnia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Libya and Iraq. As a member of the European Union since 1995, it is also bound by a mutual defense clause that obliges it to help if an EU member is attacked.
De Vynck and Rauhala reported from Brussels and DeYoung from Washington.