Parliamentarians Approve Sweden's Entry Into NATO

On Wednesday, the Swedish Parliament (Riksdag) approved the entry of their country to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) by 269 votes in favor and 37 votes against.

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This decision, which put an end to two centuries of military non-alignment, had the support of 8 out of 8 groups with parliamentary representation. Only the Green Party and the Left Party voted against the Nordic country's entry into the U.S.-lead military alliance.

At the Alliance summit held in Madrid in June 2022, the representatives of the NATO member countries approved the initiation of procedures for Sweden and Finland to enter the Treaty. Subsequently, 28 out of 30 countries ratified that decision.

While Türkiye and Hungary have recently given the green light for Finland's membership, Sweden is still waiting for the Turkish government to lift the veto on its NATO application.

On March 17, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan assured that his administration would continue negotiations with Sweden, although he reproached that this Nordic country does not extradite people linked to Kurdish organizations.

Talks between the three countries had been interrupted more than a month earlier by Ankara after a pro-Kurdish group carried out a symbolic execution of Erdogan and the burning of the Koran in Stockholm.

Swedish Foreign Affairs Minister Tobias Billstrom assured that his country will not take any additional measures to those agreed in Madrid. He also mentioned that the "last piece of the puzzle" will be fitted when new anti-terrorism legislation is expected to pass on June 1st.