Turkey and Hungary complicate Sweden's NATO bid, Turkish parliament signals support

In an act of defiance against Russian aggression in Ukraine, Finland and Sweden resolved to join NATO. Finland was accepted into the North Atlantic Alliance in April; however, Sweden still awaits approval. Both Turkey and Hungary have expressed their opposition to Sweden's application.

Ankara has accused Stockholm of providing support to organizations such as the Kurdish ones and offering refuge to their members, which Turkey considers to be terrorist groups.

Nevertheless, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Turkish Parliament has recently given a glimmer of hope, as it supported the ratification of Sweden's admission protocol to NATO on Tuesday. According to Reuters, this decision represents a significant step towards Sweden's entry into the North Atlantic Alliance.

However, the Commission's chairman, Fuat Oktay, played down the enthusiasm as he stressed that the participants of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey's plenary session will ultimately decide everything. Expectations of a speedy vote on this issue should be tempered. At the moment, it remains unclear when the Assembly will convene.

In late November, Swedish officials disclosed that they had received a promise from Ankara to ratify Sweden's NATO admission "within the next few weeks".

Turkey and Hungary are presenting obstacles to Sweden's NATO admission. Neither country has given the green light to Sweden's membership. Furthermore, they both foster friendly relations with Russia, and their leaders, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Viktor Orbán, have close ties with Vladimir Putin.