Turkey’s government gazette on Thursday published a protocol that conveys the country’s official ratification of Sweden’s bid to join the NATO alliance, a development that means that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed the document after Tuesday’s positive vote in the country’s national assembly.
The publication of the protocol ends 20 months of foot-dragging on the part of Ankara, leaving only Hungary and that country’s Putin-friendly Orban government as the sole remaining alliance member that hasn’t ok’d the Scandinavian country’s accession.
Finland’s bid also faced an unenthusiastic response by Turkey and Hungary, although less so than Sweden. Finland finally achieved NATO accession last April after decades of non-alignment.
Both previously neutral Nordic states hastily requested NATO membership in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022
