ANKARA: NATO allies on Tuesday (Nov 28) pressured Türkiye to finally approve Sweden’s stalled bid to join the military alliance as impatience grows at Ankara over the delay.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan at a meeting of alliance foreign ministers that Sweden’s application should be ratified “as soon as possible”, his spokesman said.
“The strength and credibility of our alliance are at stake. We must not lose another day,” said French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna.
Turkey and Hungary are the only NATO members yet to ratify Sweden’s bid, more than 18 months after it applied for membership.
The Turkish parliament started this month to debate Sweden’s application to join after President Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched the process following a deal at a NATO summit in July.
