NATO Secretary General confident that Sweden will join Alliance by summer 2024

Stoltenberg affirmed his belief that Sweden will become the 32nd member of the Alliance at the NATO Summit in Washington in July, emphasizing that Stockholm has fulfilled its commitments to Türkiye.

Ongoing negotiations between the United States and Türkiye are currently taking place regarding an additional agreement on the supply of F-16 fighter jets, as demanded by the Ankara government.

The news outlet highlights that Sweden submitted its application back in May 2022 against the backdrop of Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine, aiming to complete the accession process in the same year.

However, at that time, Türkiye accused Swedish politicians of "lack of commitment against terrorist organizations," such as the Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK), and refused to give its consent.

Backstory

On December 26, the foreign affairs committee of the Turkish parliament finally approved Sweden's application to join NATO. The final decision rests with the general assembly of the Grand National Assembly of Türkiye (parliament).

For Sweden to become a part of the Alliance, all member countries must ratify its application. As of today, all allies have approved the membership of the Scandinavian state, except for Türkiye and Hungary.

In response to Türkiye's demands, Sweden strengthened its counter-terrorism laws. A few weeks ago, the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that Türkiye would approve the application "in the coming weeks."

Additionally, U.S. President Joe Biden discussed this issue with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.