Sweden NATO membership must be accepted before July summit

French Foreign and European Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna (2R) welcomes Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom (L), Romanian Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu (2L) and Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu in Paris, on November 21, 2022 [EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP via Getty Images]

Turkiye and Hungary must ratify Sweden’s NATO membership before the alliance meets at a summit in July, France’s Foreign Minister said on Friday, adding that any further delays were not understandable and risked the 31-members’ security, Reuters reports.

Earlier, this year Turkiye ratified Finland’s NATO bid, but is holding back Sweden’s bid.

“It is in everyone’s interest, including Turkiye, and we are counting on it now that the elections are over to quickly ratify Sweden’s membership,” Catherine Colonna told reporters at a news conference with her Swedish counterpart, Tobias Billstrom.

According to the report, Billstrom said Stockholm had met the terms of an agreement with Ankara, pointing to new anti-terrorism legislation, and that it was now in the “hands of Turkiye to decide”.

READ: Sweden fulfilled Turkiye’s demands to join alliance

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