Sweden Welcomes Turkey's Referral of Stockholm's NATO Membership Request to Parliament

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson noted today, Tuesday, that "there is a sense of relief that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has referred the bill for Sweden's NATO membership request to parliament." Sweden submitted its application to join the alliance last year, but Turkey and Hungary have not yet approved the request. A source from the Turkish parliament stated, "Parliament Speaker Numan Kurtulmuş will send the bill approving Sweden's NATO membership request to the Foreign Affairs Committee of parliament after he returns to Turkey from Prague tomorrow, Wednesday." The official Turkish Anadolu Agency quoted Kurtulmuş as saying, "I hope that the matter will be presented to the General Assembly of parliament as soon as possible, and that lawmakers will make their decision."