The Swedish parliament has given the green light to join NATO. Only two of the eight parties voted against joining the military alliance on Wednesday. Regardless, Sweden still needs the approval of all 30 member states, although Hungary and Turkey are still missing.
The Turkish government is blocking the entry of the northern European country, arguing that it is not acting consistently enough against “terrorist organisations”. To settle this dispute, the Swedish government recently presented a draft for stricter terrorism laws. Hungary wants to vote before the end of March on Finland’s accession to NATO. The decision for Sweden, on the other hand, could come later. “If that really happens, I think Hungary owes us an explanation,” Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said Wednesday.
Is it possible to participate until July?
However, the country has shown itself positively and, unlike Turkey, has not made any special demands. According to Billström, despite Turkey’s position, he is confident that Sweden can join the military alliance at the next NATO summit in Vilnius in July. After a debate on Wednesday, Sweden’s Riksdag voted with a majority to abandon decades of non-alignment in favor of NATO. For this it is necessary to change two laws.
The governments of Sweden and Finland applied for membership in May 2022. Originally, the two countries wanted to join the alliance together, but now it looks like Finland will join NATO sooner. The Turkish government has already announced that it will ratify this accession.
Source: Krone
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