Overview

• 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.