Stoltenberg again urged Erdogan to approve Sweden's NATO membership
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (photo: Getty Images)
Secretary-General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, has once again urged President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Türkiye to allow Sweden to become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), reports AP.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg informed journalists that during a meeting with the Türkish leader on the sidelines of the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, he urged President Erdogan to expedite the ratification process for Sweden's NATO membership application.
"I met with President Erdogan this morning and I reiterated my message that the time has come to finalize the accession process for Sweden," Stoltenberg stated.
Sweden, along with Finland, decided to abandon its longstanding policy of non-alignment to military alliances and applied for NATO membership following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Finland joined NATO in April, and all NATO member countries, except for Türkiye and Hungary, have ratified Sweden's membership.
Türkey's ratification of Sweden's NATO membership application
Türkiye demanded that Sweden take additional steps against local members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which the European Union and the United States consider a terrorist organization.
At the end of October, Türkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan submitted an application for consideration by the parliament. The document was sent to the relevant committee, which has not yet approved it. Later, it was revealed that on November 16, the committee postponed discussions on this bill.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström recently announced that Türkiye plans to approve Sweden's NATO membership application in the coming weeks.
