ANKARA (Reuters) – The Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs commission has postponed a vote on Sweden’s NATO membership bid, delaying the enlargement of the Western alliance after 18 months of waiting. Ankara had demanded terror-related concessions from Stockholm before considering approval.
The commission, controlled by President Tayyip Erdogan’s ruling party, announced that it will conduct further discussions and may reintroduce the bill next week, but no specific timeline was set. Chairman Fuat Oktay stated, “For all of our lawmakers to approve Sweden’s NATO membership, they need to be fully convinced. We will discuss all of these in our (next) commission meeting (on the issue).”
The commission holds the power to pass bills by a simple majority. It may also request the Swedish ambassador to present to lawmakers if necessary and if parliamentary regulations allow it, Oktay added.
In May of last year, both Sweden and Finland requested to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization amidst Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. However, Erdogan initially objected to both requests, citing the Nordic nations’ protection of individuals Turkey deems terrorists and their defense trade embargoes. While Turkey endorsed Finland’s bid in April, it kept Sweden waiting.
Although NATO member Hungary has also not ratified Sweden’s membership, Turkey is considered the main obstacle to adding Sweden to the military alliance and strengthening its defenses in the Baltic Sea region.
(Reporting by Huseyin Hayatsever; Writing by Tuvan Gumrukcu; Editing by Jonathan Spicer)
