2024-01-23 16:39:43
The Turkish Parliament is due to vote this week on Sweden’s membership in NATO, perhaps as early as Tuesday January 23 according to the CNN Türk channel.
If Turkey ratifies, Hungary would be left as the last obstacle to the accession process, which Sweden began in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine almost two years ago.
While Finland joined NATO in April 2023, Sweden would become the 32nd member of the alliance if the accession process goes through to completion.
► 1949, founding of NATO without Sweden
On April 4, 1949, twelve countries in Europe and North America created the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), in the context of the start of the Cold War and tensions between the Soviet Union and the Western powers.
Sweden, which has pursued a policy of neutrality for more than a century and did not participate directly in the Second World War, is not part of it, unlike its two neighbors Norway and Denmark.
► 1952, secret cooperation with the United States
On June 13, 1952, a Swedish plane, a DC-3, equipped with electromagnetic surveillance equipment, disappeared over the Baltic Sea. A seaplane participating in the search is then attacked by Soviet fighter planes and has to make an emergency landing.
The flight of this DC-3, which the Soviets later admitted to having shot down, was linked to a secret cooperation agreement between the United States and Sweden, which thus violated its official neutrality.
► 2001, Swedish troops in Afghanistan
In 2001, Swedish soldiers joined the International Security Assistance Force deployed in Afghanistan under the auspices of NATO following a UN resolution.
In 2011, the Swedish armed forces had 650 soldiers on site, who will then be gradually withdrawn. This is one of their rare interventions abroad.
► 2022, the official membership application
On May 18, 2022, less than three months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sweden decided to leave its neutrality and officially submitted its application for membership in NATO, jointly with Finland.
Turkey, a member since 1952, opposes it on the pretext that, according to it, the two countries protect “Kurdish terrorists”. Viktor Orban’s Hungary, in conflict with the European Union, also vetoes these candidacies.
On June 29, during the NATO summit in Madrid, the heads of state and government of the Alliance nevertheless invited Sweden and Finland to become members. Turkey has agreed with the two countries not to block their applications as part of a tripartite agreement.
On July 5, the accession protocols for the two countries were signed. They must then be ratified in the 30 member countries according to the national procedures in force. This will be done quickly for Finland, which joins NATO in April 2023, but not for Sweden.
► 2023, Erdogan blows hot and cold
On January 23, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced that Sweden could no longer count on Turkish support after an activist burned a Koran in front of the Turkish embassy in Stockholm.
On July 10, 2023, after months of discussions and negotiations, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson formalized, during the Vilnius summit, Turkey’s support for Sweden’s membership of the organization.
On December 23, 2023, the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Turkish Parliament approved the text authorizing Sweden’s accession to NATO, paving the way for a vote by parliamentarians in plenary session.
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