Turkish Committee Approves Sweden's NATO Bid

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Facts

  • Sweden’s potential accession to NATO received a major boost on Tuesday after Turkey’s parliamentary foreign affairs commission approved its membership bid. Turkey had delayed Sweden’s bid for 19 months, demanding security-related concessions from Stockholm.1
  • Turkish Pres. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan had opposed Sweden’s membership, but he reversed his objection in July. However, he waited several months to send the bill to parliament, and it took weeks for the foreign affairs commission to approve the accession.2
  • Sweden’s Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom told Swedish media, “We look forward to becoming a member of NATO'' and added that the next step was a full vote in the Turkish parliament. A date hasn’t been set for a parliamentary vote, but Erdoğan's ruling alliance holds a majority of seats and will likely vote to ratify Sweden’s accession.3
  • Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Nordic countries Finland and Sweden dropped a longstanding position of neutrality to join the security alliance in 2022. Finland joined NATO in April, but Sweden’s bid has been derailed by Hungary and Turkey, which claims that the Nordic country has been too lenient on Kurdish terrorist groups.4
  • All 31 NATO members must vote to approve a new member, and in order to secure Turkey’s acceptance, Sweden partnered with Finland, Canada, and the Netherlands to relax arms-export policies affecting Turkey. Meanwhile, Erdoğan also suggested Turkish support for Sweden’s accession was contingent on US approval of F-16 fighter jet sales to Ankara.5
  • NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg says he expects both Turkey and Hungary to complete their ratifications “as soon as possible.” The Biden administration had promised to sell $20B of F-16s to Turkey, but the sale has been blocked over Erdoğan's tensions with Israel and Greece.6

Sources: 1Voice of America, 2Associated Press, 3Guardian, 4Forbes, 5Al Jazeera and 6France 24.

Narratives

  • Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Modern Diplomacy. Sweden’s imminent accession to NATO and Finland’s approval earlier this year are key diplomatic wins for international security. Peace is attained through unity and strength, so adding two historically neutral countries from northern Europe to the military alliance will go a long way toward deterring aggression. With Russia on the offensive in Ukraine, all hands must be on deck to stop further attacks. While some countries may want to keep out of conflict, modern defense requires a unified front, and NATO is the main protector of the global order.
  • Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by RT. NATO claims to seek peace in Europe, but the fact is that the expansion of the aggressive military alliance is only destabilizing the continent. NATO has essentially become an anti-Russian alliance that seeks to provoke Moscow and create conflict. Moreover, NATO is destroying the concept of neutrality and non-interventionism by calling on all members to pick a side in conflicts that have nothing to do with them. NATO is hostile toward its perceived enemies, and Sweden is actually inching closer towards provoking conflict, not deterring it.

Predictions