Turkish parliamentary committee greenlights Sweden’s NATO bid

A key parliamentary committee of the Turkish parliament on Tuesday (Dec 26) gave its seal of approval for Sweden's bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Association (NATO) following months of delays. This represents the clearing of another hurdle in the way Sweden's application to join the alliance in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Inclusion of new members in the NATO requires approval of all existing members and Sweden's bid encountered significant delays due to opposition from Turkey and Hungary. The process faced further complications as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan linked Sweden's inclusion to Turkey's request for F-16 fighter jets from the United States.

Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Following the invasion, Sweden and Finland moved away from their decades-old stand of military non-alignment and applied to join NATO.

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All NATO members other than Turkey and Hungary approved the request. Both the countries eventually relented over Finland and it joined the alliance in April this year. Finland became 31st member of NATO.

Turkey and Hungary are yet to ratify Sweden's bid even 19 months after its initial application.

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Sweden's application has now been approved by Turkish parliament's foreign affairs committee.

"The protocol (on Sweden's NATO accession) passed the committee," opposition CHP party lawmaker Utku Cakirozer, a member of the foreign affairs committee, told AFP after the vote.

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Next step is the parliament vote on the measure. Erdogan's ruling alliance has a majority in the Turkish parliament. It was not immediately declared when will the full parliament hold its vote.

The holdup

Turkey for long had been saying that Sweden was not taking adequate measures against pro-Kurdistan elements in Sweden which Turkey calls terrorists.

After Stockholm's crackdown on these groups, Erdogan lifted his objections in July.

NATO members have increased pressure on Turkey to fast-track the process of final approval. France has also said that credibility of the alliance was "at stake"

(With inputs from agencies)