Turkish parliament approves Sweden’s NATO accession bid

Turkey’s parliament voted on Tuesday to approve Sweden’s accession to NATO after months of blocking Stockholm’s bid to join the alliance, according to Bloomberg.

After Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan signs Sweden’s application, Hungary will be the only NATO country that has not approved Sweden’s membership, despite repeated past vows that it would not be the last member to do so.

Both Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO in the summer of 2022 against the backdrop of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. While Finland joined the bloc in April 2023, Ankara put forth a list of demands it said would have to be met before it would approve Sweden’s membership, including stricter measures against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party, which Turkey considers a terrorism group. In July 2023, Erdogan agreed to support Sweden’s bid.