On January 23, the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) welcomed the Turkish Parliament's final approval of Sweden's membership in the military bloc.
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| There is just one final step for Sweden to officially become a NATO member. (Source: The European Conservative) |
Reuters reported that, posting on social network X, White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan said: "Sweden is a strong, capable defense partner and NATO membership will make the United States and the alliance safer and stronger."
Similarly, the US, asserting that Sweden's membership makes NATO stronger and everyone safer, Secretary General of the military alliance Jens Stoltenberg made it clear: "I also trust that Hungary will complete its ratification as soon as possible."
According to the NATO head, at the 2023 Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, all allies of this military bloc agreed to invite Sweden to join the alliance and Stockholm has fulfilled its commitments.
On the Swedish side, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson noted that the Turkish Parliament's approval of Stockholm's accession to NATO was a "positive" move.
Posting on social network X, Mr. Kristersson emphasized that with the above move by Türkiye, Sweden has taken one step closer to becoming an official member of NATO.
In 2022, Sweden and Finland will begin procedures to join NATO, however, to officially enter this transatlantic military alliance, it needs to be ratified by all member states.
In April 2023, Finland officially joined NATO, becoming the 31st member of this military alliance, while Sweden has not been ratified by Türkiye and Hungary.
On January 23, the Turkish Parliament passed a long-delayed bill to ratify Sweden’s accession to NATO, making it the alliance’s 32nd member. Thus, Hungary remains the only member state that has not yet ratified Sweden’s entry into the military alliance.
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