Hungary has said it will approve Sweden’s NATO bid now that Turkey has dropped its objection, but both the Hungarian and Turkish parliaments will not take up the issue until the fall.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday that his country’s parliament will approve Sweden’s NATO bid when it comes back in session in October.
Hungarian lawmakers have said there’s no need to call an extraordinary session to ratify Sweden’s NATO bid since Turkey won’t be doing so until October. Hungary’s parliament is expected to start working on the issue in mid-September.
Turkey had been blocking Sweden’s NATO bid over allegations that the country supports the PKK, a Kurdish militant group Turkey considers a terrorist organization. To placate Turkey, Sweden passed new anti-terror laws, lifted an arms embargo on Turkey, and is responding to Turkish extradition requests.
Erdogan agreed to withdraw his objection the day before NATO’s summit in Vilnius, which was held on Tuesday and Wednesday. Sweden has ditched its long-standing policy of neutrality and will become the 32nd member of the NATO alliance, committing the US to the defense of yet another country.
Source: AntiWar.
