Turkish president backs Sweden’s entry to NATO, head of navy alliance says

The president of Turkey has agreed that Sweden must be allowed to affix NATO, the pinnacle of the navy alliance has mentioned.

Jens Stoltenberg mentioned Recep Tayyip Erdogan had agreed to ship 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 instructed reporters.

In a press release, NATO mentioned that for the reason that final 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.”

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak mentioned it was a “historic moment for NATO that makes us all safer”, including: “Sweden, we look forward to welcoming you into the alliance.”

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly mentioned it was in “everyone’s interest for Sweden to join”.

Sweden has been attempting to affix NATO since final 12 months after ending a historic coverage of neutrality within the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.