After dangling the carrot for nearly two years, Turkey on Tuesday backed Sweden’s NATO membership bid, putting the Nordic nation over its biggest hurdle to joining the Western military alliance.
Turkey’s legislators voted in favor of Sweden’s membership on Tuesday. It will take effect once it is published in the country’s Official Gazette, which is expected to be swift. That will leave Hungary as the sole NATO member to stand in the way of Sweden’s accession.
Both Finland and Sweden applied to join the alliance after Russia invaded Ukraine. Their membership strengthens NATO’s reach in the Baltic Sea and along Russia’s border.
Turkey and Hungary, both chums with Russia, resisted NATO expansion. In an alliance formed to counter the former Soviet Union, these two have appeared to be playing both sides. Holding out allowed President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to extract concessions like a deal to buy F-16 fighter jets from the US.
Meanwhile, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban has invited his Swedish counterpart to negotiate and has previously said he would not block Sweden’s bid if Turkey green-lit it. But the mention of negotiations suggests Budapest may want to get something in return for sealing the deal on NATO expansion.
