Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has agreed to forward to parliament Sweden’s bid to join the NATO military alliance, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on the eve of a NATO summit in Vilnius.
„I’m glad to announce … that President Erdogan has agreed to forward the accession protocol for Sweden to the grand national assembly as soon as possible, and work closely with the assembly to ensure ratification,” Stoltenberg said Monday.
He called it a “historic decision: which is “good for Sweden, good for Turkey, and good for the whole Alliance.”
The announcement came following a meeting between the Secretary General, President Erdogan, and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
„The memorandum concluded a year ago at the Madrid summit has delivered,” said Mr Stoltenberg. „It has delivered more in our fight against terrorism, more security for Turkey, and a stronger NATO.”
He noted that Sweden and Turkey have worked closely together since NATO’s 2022 Summit in Madrid to address Turkey’s legitimate security concerns, and that as part of that process, Sweden has amended its constitution, changed its laws, significantly expanded its counter-terrorism cooperation against the PKK, and resumed arms exports to Turkey.
“Sweden’s cooperation with Turkey in the fight against terrorism will continue beyond accession,” he said, welcoming that Sweden and Turkey agreed today to establish a new bilateral Security Compact.
“NATO will also significantly step up its work in this area, and I will establish, for the first time at NATO, the post of Special Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism,” said the Secretary General.
“Completing Sweden’s accession to NATO is an historic step that benefits the security of all NATO Allies at this critical time. It makes us all stronger and safer,” said Mr Stoltenberg.
Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO last year, casting aside policies of military non-alignment that had lasted through the decades of the Cold War as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine changed security considerations.
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