Sweden is on track to become NATO’s 32nd and newest member after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan unexpectedly dropped his objections Monday on the eve of a summit of the Western military alliance’s leaders in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Mr. Erdogan’s about-face after months of blocking the Nordic nation’s application is a major policy win for President Biden and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg, both of whom strongly supported Stockholm’s bid for membership.
NATO said in a statement that Mr. Erdogan met Monday with Mr. Stoltenberg and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson of Sweden to discuss the country’s bid. Turkey has complained that Stockholm had failed to crack down on Kurdish exile groups inside Sweden that Ankara considers terrorist organizations and had sanctioned Ankara for past rights abuses.
New NATO members must win unanimous approval from the 31 countries now in the alliance. Hungary has not yet officially endorsed Sweden’s bid, but officials in Budapest have said they would not stand in the way if Turkey dropped its objections.
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