Türkiye Takes Final Step On Sweden's NATO Membership

National flags of member countries in NATO flying outside organization headquarters in Brussels. (AFP)
National flags of member countries in NATO flying outside organization headquarters in Brussels. (AFP)
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Türkiye Takes Final Step On Sweden's NATO Membership

National flags of member countries in NATO flying outside organization headquarters in Brussels. (AFP)
National flags of member countries in NATO flying outside organization headquarters in Brussels. (AFP)

Türkiye's government newspaper on Thursday published a protocol on Sweden's accession to NATO, a final technical step in Ankara's ratification of the Nordic nation's bid to join the US-led alliance.

The Official Gazette's publication of the law on Sweden's accession to the alliance, which the Turkish parliament approved on Tuesday, ends a nearly two-year saga that tested Ankara's relations with its Western allies.

Erdogan had earlier signed the document, meaning that Türkiye has completed all its required steps, AFP reported.

Türkiye's green light leaves Hungary as the last holdout in an accession process that Sweden and Finland, which had adhered to decades of military non-alignment, began in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago.

Finland became the 31st nation of the alliance last April.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Thursday he was ready to meet his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban to help pave the way for Budapest's quick approval of the bid.

NATO membership applications require unanimous ratifications by all alliance members.



Israel Threatens Iran's Top Leader after Missiles Damage Hospital and Wound Dozens

(FILES) A handout picture provided by the Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s office on March 21, 2025, shows him addressing the crowd during his annual Nowruz speech, in Tehran.(Photo by KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
(FILES) A handout picture provided by the Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s office on March 21, 2025, shows him addressing the crowd during his annual Nowruz speech, in Tehran.(Photo by KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
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Israel Threatens Iran's Top Leader after Missiles Damage Hospital and Wound Dozens

(FILES) A handout picture provided by the Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s office on March 21, 2025, shows him addressing the crowd during his annual Nowruz speech, in Tehran.(Photo by KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)
(FILES) A handout picture provided by the Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei’s office on March 21, 2025, shows him addressing the crowd during his annual Nowruz speech, in Tehran.(Photo by KHAMENEI.IR / AFP)

Israel's defense minister overtly threatened Iran's supreme leader on Thursday after the latest missile barrage from Iran damaged a major hospital and hit a high-rise and several other residential buildings near Tel Aviv.

At least 40 people were wounded in the attacks, according to Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service. Black smoke rose from the Soroka Medical Center in the southern city of Beersheba as emergency teams evacuated patients. There were no serious injuries in the strike on the hospital, The Associated Press said.

In the aftermath of the strikes, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz blamed Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei and said the military "has been instructed and knows that in order to achieve all of its goals, this man absolutely should not continue to exist.”

US officials said this week that President Donald Trump had vetoed an Israeli plan to kill Khamenei. Trump later said there were no plans to kill him “at least not for now.”