Sweden NATO bid may be complete at end of this year: Turkey
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A Turkish parliamentary source states that there is hope of completing the bid by this year “if there are no excesses that could affect the situation”.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan waits for the start of a round table meeting of the North Atlantic Council during a NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11, 2023. (AP)
A source in Turkey's parliament, the Grand National Assembly, confirmed to Sputnik that Sweden’s ratification process of NATO accession may be completed by the end of this year if no circumstances arise that affect the situation.
"On Thursday, the [Turkish] parliament's foreign affairs commission will start considering Sweden's application. There is a positive environment now, and we see a constructive approach on the part of Stockholm. If there are no excesses that could affect the situation, there is hope to finalize the process by the end of the year," the source stated.
The ratification bid was launched in late October after Turkish Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmus signed a bill for the NATO bid and submitted it to a parliamentary commission for review.
Sputnik was later told by the Turkish presidency that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan proposed that the parliament ratify the protocol on Sweden's accession.
Sweden submitted its NATO application in May 2022 with Finland, just several months after Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine.
Finland successfully joined in April 2023, while Sweden's application is still awaiting ratification by Turkey and Hungary.
Lifting obstacles
Back in October, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban addressed the country's parliament, asserting that ratifying Sweden's NATO bid was not an "urgent" matter. Orban accused Sweden of challenging Hungary's "democratic nature" in his remarks.
Hungary has yet to vote in favor of Sweden's accession to NATO, aligning itself with Turkey, which had previously blocked Sweden's membership but lifted its veto in July.
Turkey, and Hungary stymied Sweden's bid, with Budapest citing grievances over Stockholm's criticism of Hungary's Prime Minister and Ankara accusing Sweden of harboring what it considers Kurdish terrorists and, most recently, meddling in Turkish elections.
Another issue of contention was the Biden administration's connection of the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey with Ankara's approval of Stockholm's NATO membership bid, to which Erdogan said that this "seriously upsets" his country.
