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Türkiye has agreed to back Sweden’s NATO bid, alliance chief says

10 July 2023 23:09 (UTC +04:00)

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday that Turkey has agreed to back Sweden’s bid to join the military alliance, APA reports.

“Glad to announce that after the meeting I hosted with @RTErdogan & @SwedishPM, President Erdogan has agreed to forward #Sweden's accession protocol to the Grand National Assembly ASAP & ensure ratification. This is an historic step which makes all #NATO Allies stronger & safer,” Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in a tweet after a meeting in the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius.

Sweden will “actively support” efforts to reinvigorate Turkey’s accession process to the European Union, NATO said in a statement after the meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Stoltenberg.

“Both Turkey and Sweden will look to maximise opportunities to increase bilateral trade and investments. Sweden will actively support efforts to reinvigorate Türkiye’s EU accession process, including modernisation of the EU-Turkey Customs Union and visa liberalisation,” it added.
Allowing Sweden into the alliance "benefits the security of all NATO allies at this critical time," Stoltenberg said at a news conference.

Erdogan earlier on Monday asked for Brussels to clear Turkey's path into EU membership before approving Sweden's NATO membership.

“Since the last NATO Summit, Sweden and Türkiye have worked closely together to address Türkiye’s legitimate security concerns. As part of that process, Sweden has amended its constitution, changed its laws, significantly expanded its counter-terrorism cooperation against the PKK, and resumed arms exports to Türkiye, all steps set out in the Trilateral Memorandum agreed in 2022,” the NATO statement read.

“Both Sweden and Türkiye agreed that counter-terrorism cooperation is a long-term effort, which will continue beyond Sweden’s accession to NATO,” it added.