Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has agreed to support Sweden’s membership in NATO, which he has been blocking for more than a year, Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced on Monday, welcoming ” a historic day”.
“I am happy to report that President Erdogan has agreed to forward Sweden’s accession protocol” to the Turkish Parliament “as soon as possible and to work with the assembly to ensure ratification,” the official said, to the outcome of a meeting with the Turkish leader and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, on the eve of a NATO summit in Vilnius.
“Finalizing Sweden’s NATO membership is a historic step that benefits the security of all NATO allies at this critical time. It makes us all stronger and safer,” Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference.
A few hours earlier, the Turkish leader had linked his support for Sweden’s candidacy for NATO to his country’s accession negotiations to the EU. Erdogan held talks with European Council President Charles Michel in the evening, during which both agreed to “revitalize” relations between Turkey and the EU, according to the European leader.
Turkey, still an official candidate, applied for membership in the European Economic Community in 1987 and in the European Union in 1999, but EU membership negotiations, which began in 2005, have been stalled for several years.
Arriving in Vilnius on Monday, US President Joe Biden welcomed the Turkish President’s agreement to Sweden’s membership in the Atlantic Alliance. “I stand ready to work with President Erdogan and Turkey to strengthen defense and deterrence in the Euro-Atlantic area,” Joe Biden said in a statement, saying he “looks forward” to welcoming Sweden as 32nd member state of NATO.
In a post on Twitter, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock called Erdogan’s deal “good news from Vilnius”. “The path for Turkey’s ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership is finally clear,” she said.
“We are taking a big step towards formal ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership. It’s a good day for Sweden,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a news conference in Vilnius.
The parallel with the previous Atlantic Alliance summit in Madrid a year ago is striking. At the time, already, it had taken hours of negotiations to wrest support from the Turkish head of state for the initial invitation to Stockholm.
A meeting with the President of the European Council Charles Michel had hinted at an improvement, the latter referring to their common desire to “revitalize” Turkey-EU relations.