On Monday, Sweden moved closer to joining NATO after Turkey agreed to support its participation.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has agreed to proceed with Sweden’s application to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), The Washington Post reported. report. Turkey’s president will send Sweden’s application to parliament for ratification. The move is expected to effectively guarantee Sweden’s NATO membership.

According to the Post, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said, “President Erdogan will send the Swedish accession protocol to the Grand National Assembly as soon as possible and will work closely with the Grand National Assembly to ensure its ratification. I agreed,” he said. (Related: NATO at gateway to expansion after Orban party green light)

“Today is a historic day,” he added.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Christersson is happy to be greeted with applause as he walks into the lobby of his Vilnius hotel tonight after securing Turkey’s long-pending agreement to bid Sweden join NATO. . pic.twitter.com/2hEZZdZmE2

— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) July 10, 2023

Erdogan on Monday compared Sweden’s attempt to join NATO to Turkey’s failure to join the EU, the newspaper said. The comments sparked concerns at the NATO summit that same day that Turkey would prevent Sweden from joining the military alliance.

“We hope our promises are kept,” Erdogan said before leaving for the summit, according to the Post. “Come first and pave the way for Turkey in the European Union, and then pave the way for Sweden as we paved the way for Finland.”

Following Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, both Finland and Sweden sought access to NATO membership. Finland was eventually accepted into NATO, but Sweden faced backlash from Turkey. Turkey has blocked Sweden’s NATO application over allegations that Sweden refused to extradite members of the Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK), which Turkey considers a terrorist group.

Diplomatic analysts said Turkey’s main objective was to win the Biden administration’s $20 billion contract for U.S.-made F-16 fighter jets, the newspaper reported.

“That’s actually his negotiating style,” Brookings Institution Fellow Asli Aidintasvas told the Post. “He knows Turkey will not join the EU. There is.”

President Joe Biden praised the new development in a White House statement.

“I stand ready to work with President Erdogan and Turkey to strengthen defense and deterrence in the Euro-Atlantic region. I look forward to welcoming Prime Minister Christerson and Sweden as the 32nd NATO ally. and the White House Said In a statement quoted by the BBC.

Turkey and Sweden worked together to work out the details on .[Turkey’s] Legitimate Security Concerns” according to Press release from NATO.

“As part of that process, Sweden amended its constitution, amended its laws, significantly expanded its counter-terrorism cooperation with the PKK, significantly expanded its counter-terrorism cooperation, and resumed its counter-terrorism cooperation. [Turkey]all steps set out in the Trilateral Memorandum of Understanding have been agreed for 2022,” the press release continued.