Sweden's NATO accession process has been delayed due to certain conditions imposed by Türkiye and Hungary.
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| Sweden will join NATO by July this year at the latest. (Source: Reuter) |
In an interview with German news agency DPA on January 2, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Jens Stoltenberg expressed confidence that Sweden will join the military alliance no later than July this year.
The Nordic country is expected to become a full member of NATO before the start of the alliance's next summit, which will be held in Washington from July 9-11.
The decisions of Sweden and Finland to apply for NATO membership last year marked a turning point in the two Scandinavian countries' long-standing policy of neutrality.
Helsinki's application was quickly approved, but Stockholm's accession process was delayed due to certain conditions imposed by Türkiye and Hungary.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has demanded that Sweden fight the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in his country and is using his veto power to achieve his own goals, including receiving US F-16 fighter jets.
Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said in late December last year that the country's parliament was hesitant to quickly approve Sweden's proposal, leading to a delay of several months.
However, according to Mr. Stoltenberg's statement, Stockholm has fulfilled its obligations to Ankara, which could speed up the process of Sweden joining NATO.
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