Turkish lawmakers approve Sweden’s bid to join NATO, leaving Hungary as last holdout

Lawmakers approved the Nordic nation's bid to become the 32nd member of the alliance after it won the public backing of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Parliament ratified Sweden’s accession protocol by 287 votes to 55, with four abstentions. The ratification will come into effect after its publication in the Official Gazette, which is expected to be swift.

Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson welcomed the vote in a social media post, writing on X: "Today we are one step closer to becoming a full member of NATO".

Turkey's ratification leaves Hungary as the last holdout in an accession process that Sweden and Finland began in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago.

Turkey had forced the Nordic countries to split up their applications after finding fault with Sweden and approving Finland after a few rounds of talks.

Finland's membership last April doubled the length of NATO's border with Russia and boosted the defences of three tiny Baltic nations that joined the bloc following the collapse of the former Soviet Union.

Sweden and Finland pursued a policy of military non-alignment during the Cold War era between the Soviet Union and the West.

But the Ukraine war upturned geopolitical calculations and forced the two to seek the nuclear protection afforded by the world's most powerful defence organisation.

Hungary has followed Turkey's lead throughout the NATO accession process and was expected to approve Sweden's without significant resistance.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Tuesday invited his Swedish counterpart to Budapest to discuss the bid.

But hints emerged on Tuesday of strains between Stockholm and Budapest.

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom said he saw "no reason" to negotiate with Hungary about Stockholm's NATO candidacy "at this point".

Orban and Erdogan have maintained a good rapport with Russian President Vladimir Putin throughout the Ukraine war.

NATO leaders had feared that the Kremlin was trying to use Orban and Erdogan to seed divisions in the West.

The bloc's commanders have cast the latest round of expansion as a show of Western resolve in the face of Russian aggression.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP)