The Turkish parliament ratified Sweden's membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on Tuesday, at the end of twenty months of negotiations that tested the patience of Ankara's Western allies keen to form a united front against Moscow.
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The Swedish nomination, which now requires only the green light from Hungary, was approved by Turkish representatives by a majority of 287 votes against 55 votes in opposition.
Sweden, which is about to become NATO's 32nd member state, announced its candidacy in May 2022, at the same time Finland joined last April.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the two neighboring countries broke with decades of neutrality after World War II and then military non-alignment since the end of the Cold War.
To meet Ankara's demands, Sweden went so far as to reform its constitution and adopt a new anti-terrorism law, as Turkey accused the northern country of being lenient with Kurdish militants who had taken refuge on its territory, and whom Ankara considered terrorists. .
In early December, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan added, as a condition for ratification, the “simultaneous” approval of the US Congress to sell F-16 fighter jets to Turkey, further delaying the green light from his parliament.
Ankara also demanded that Canada allow the sale to Turkey of an optical component used in the manufacture of combat drones.
Last work in Budapest
The US government is not hostile to the sale of F-16s but Congress has so far blocked them due to recurring tensions in particular between Turkey and Greece, which is also a NATO member, although relations between the two countries have improved in recent months.
Erdogan spoke by phone last month with US President Joe Biden, who said that Turkey could obtain the required approval from Congress if Sweden's membership was ratified.
The final act before Sweden joins NATO will now take place in Hungary, the only other country in the alliance that has maintained close ties with Moscow despite the invasion of Ukraine.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban invited his Swedish counterpart to Budapest on Tuesday to try to remove the last obstacles to the green light from his parliament.
Budapest, which gave its support in principle to Sweden's accession but has been dragging its feet for months, is calling on Stockholm to stop the policy of “discrediting” the Hungarian government accused of authoritarian drift.
The Swedish Foreign Minister responded briefly to the invitation, saying that his country “has no reason” to currently negotiate with Hungary.
Tobias Billstrom emphasized that “at the Madrid summit last year, Hungary (..) granted Sweden guest status” with the aim of joining NATO, without any reservations.
