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Months on, there are few signs that Turkey plans to honor its pledge to help Sweden join NATO
Three months after Turkey agreed to expedite Sweden's NATO membership bid, little sign of progress has emerged
BRUSSELS (AP) — Three months after NATO announced that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had agreed to let Sweden become a member of the military organization, little sign has emerged that the Nordic country will be allowed to join its ranks anytime soon.
The issue was expected to be raised Thursday at NATO headquarters where the 31 member countries were holding their second day of talks.
Sweden and its neighbor Finland turned their backs on decades of military non-alignment after President Vladimir Putin ordered Russia troops to invade Ukraine in February 2022. Their aim was to seek protection under NATO’s security umbrella, and Finland joined in April.
All 31 NATO allies must endorse Sweden’s membership. Turkey and Hungary are dragging their feet. Publicly, Erdogan has said he was blocking because he believes that Sweden has been too soft on Kurdish militants and other groups that he considers to be security threats. Many allies doubt that.