Erdogan signs Turkey’s NATO accession treaty

President of Türkiye, Recep Tayyip ErdoğanSweden’s NATO accession treaty was signed on Thursday afternoon, completing Turkey’s ratification process. On Tuesday, the Turkish parliament had already voted in favor of the Swedish candidacy for the defense alliance. The ratification document must now be sent to the US State Department in Washington, the depositary of the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty.

“We welcome Turkey’s ratification of Sweden’s application to NATO. We have now reached a decisive milestone on the path to full membership in NATO,” Ulf Kristersson celebrated via X (ex-Twitter). Swedish Prime Minister.

Under Turkish law, Erdogan had two weeks to sign the request. However, there were concerns that it would potentially take longer, especially with multiple visits in the lengthy process. But, according to Turkish experts Paul Levin, the announcement is not particularly surprising. “It would be very strange if Erdogan did not sign the law that he himself introduced into parliament,” he told Swedish public television SVT.

The only country that has not yet approved Sweden as a NATO member is Hungary. Its parliament does not resume its sessions until the end of February and there is no fixed date for a possible vote on the Nordic country’s request. On the other hand, the opposition has demanded convening of Parliament before that date. But it is uncertain whether such a meeting will take place or not. The Speaker of the Magyar Legislature said this on Thursday “They don’t have any particular urgency.”

Prime Minister Viktor Orban invited Kristersson for “talks” this week, to which the Prime Minister replied that they could meet in Brussels during next week’s European Council.