The president of Turkey has agreed that Sweden should be allowed to join NATO, the head of the military alliance has said.
Jens Stoltenberg said Recep Tayyip Erdogan had agreed to send Sweden’s accession protocol to the Turkish parliament “as soon as possible”.
Mr Stoltenberg made the announcement following talks with Mr Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on the eve of a NATO summit in Lithuania.
“This is a historic day because we have a clear commitment by Turkey to submit the ratification documents to the Grand National Assembly, and to work also with the assembly to ensure ratification,” Mr Stoltenberg told reporters.
In a statement, NATO said that since the last summit, Sweden and Turkey had “worked closely together to address Turkey’s legitimate security concerns”.
It added: “As part of that process, Sweden has amended its constitution, changed its laws, significantly expanded its counter- terrorism cooperation against the PKK (Kurdish political organisation), and resumed arms exports to Turkey.”
UK Foreign Secretary James Cleverly said it was in “everyone’s interest for Sweden to join”.
He added: “Their accession makes us all safer. The UK welcomes the steps Turkey has taken today to bring this closer.”
Sweden has been trying to join NATO since last year after ending a historic policy of neutrality in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
