US requests Turkey and Hungary to approve Sweden’s long-awaited NATO membership

Washington encouraged Turkey and Hungary on Wednesday to swiftly approve Sweden’s NATO membership application, which has been stalled for months as a result of a number of disagreements with the two countries.

“We anticipate shortly welcome Sweden as the 32nd member (member of NATO). And just to be clear, we hope it occurs before the July (NATO) meeting “On a trip to Sweden, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin remarked.

Thus, he stated, “We urge our friends Turkey and Hungary to swiftly approve Sweden’s admission.”

Austin emphasised the US’s support for Sweden by stating that it has strengthened its military presence there.

The department (of defence) has increased the number of ship visits, bomber task force operations, and high level interactions with Sweden, he added, to “underline our sincere commitment.”

In May 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Sweden and neighbouring Finland announced applications to join NATO, ending two centuries of neutrality and military non-alignment.

Nonetheless, despite Finland becoming the 31st member of NATO on April 4, Sweden’s application is still being opposed.

The alliance’s members must unanimously approve new members, while Ankara and Budapest continue to oppose Sweden’s admission.

By refusing to extradite hundreds of people that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan connects to a botched 2016 coup attempt and a decades-long Kurdish independence war, Sweden has particularly enraged Turkey.

In the meanwhile, according to the presidential spokesperson Zoltan Kovacs, Hungary has “an sufficient number of grievances that need to be addressed” before it can approve the Swedish proposal. He also accused Swedish delegates of being “repeatedly anxious to criticise Hungary” on rule-of-law concerns.