Sweden's NATO Accession Delayed by Turkey and Hungary
Despite ongoing delays, Swedish Foreign Minister expects Turkey to approve Sweden’s NATO membership within weeks.
- Turkey and Hungary are the only NATO countries that have not yet formally approved Sweden’s accession bid.
- Turkey has delayed ratification for more than a year, accusing Sweden of not taking Turkey’s security concerns seriously enough, including its fight against Kurdish militants and other groups that Ankara considers to be security threats.
- An apparent breakthrough happened at a NATO summit in July when Erdogan said he would submit accession documents to Parliament, but a debate on the matter in the foreign affairs committee was adjourned last month without a decision.
- Sweden and neighboring Finland decided to drop their long-standing policy of nonalignment and apply for NATO membership following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year. Finland joined NATO in April.
- Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom says that Turkey could approve Sweden’s NATO membership “within weeks,” and he expects Budapest to follow Ankara’s lead.