Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, reportedly said “yes” to Sweden’s historic accession to NATO, after the tripartite meeting with NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, and Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristerson.

The Secretary General of the Alliance, Jens Stoltenberg, said that the Turkish President accepted to submit for a vote in the National Assembly of Turkey, Sweden’s candidacy for NATO membership. In fact, Stoltenberg called Erdogan’s move a “historic step”.

Nevertheless, he said that he does not know, nor can he enter into discussions about when the nomination will be ratified. Yet he added that the Turkish President’s decision is a clear commitment which, according to Erdogan, will be realized as soon as possible.

At the same time, Stoltenberg referred to Viktor Orbán, who faithfully follows Erdogan’s tactics, saying that he had made it clear that Hungary would not be the last country to ratify Sweden’s accession to NATO.

According to Turkish media, Stoltenberg said that Sweden, as an EU member, will support Turkey’s EU process, visa liberalization and efforts to update the Customs Union. It was also noted that Turkey will send Sweden’s Accession Protocols to NATO to the Parliament and will work closely for their approval.

Announcing that a Special Counter-Terrorism Coordinator would be appointed for the first time in NATO history, Stoltenberg said a bilateral security mechanism would be established between Turkey and Sweden.

Also read: NATO | Sweden and Finland jointly submit membership application

Earlier on Monday, Erdogan said he would inform his country’s NATO allies that Ankara should find open doors to the European Union in order to open NATO’s door to Sweden.

Regarding the Nordic country’s accession to the Alliance, Erdogan noted that Turkey’s Parliament has the final say, while he denied that the issue of upgrading Turkish F-16s from the US is connected to the issue of Sweden. In fact, he noted that he will have further talks with US President, Joe Biden, on the purchase of F-16 fighter jets from Turkey.

Congressional sources reported as of yesterday that the White House came closer to the conditions they set and safety nets they requested to prevent such a sale, something Senator Robert Menendez hinted at when asked about it.

Mr. Menendez added that Congress will ensure that NATO allies like Greece remain strong regardless of other developments. His reluctance reflects the efforts being made behind the scenes to create a framework to satisfy the demands made by the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

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