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)
TT

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.



Danish PM Tells Trump It Is up to Greenland to Decide on Independence

Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen attends the Baltic Sea NATO Allies Summit in Helsinki, Finland, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen attends the Baltic Sea NATO Allies Summit in Helsinki, Finland, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
TT

Danish PM Tells Trump It Is up to Greenland to Decide on Independence

Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen attends the Baltic Sea NATO Allies Summit in Helsinki, Finland, 14 January 2025. (EPA)
Prime Minister of Denmark Mette Frederiksen attends the Baltic Sea NATO Allies Summit in Helsinki, Finland, 14 January 2025. (EPA)

Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Wednesday she had spoken on the phone with US President-elect Donald Trump and told him that it is up to Greenland itself to decide on any independence.

Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, said last week that US control of Greenland was an "absolute necessity" and did not rule out using military or economic action such as tariffs against Denmark to make it happen.

"In the conversation, the prime minister referred to the statements of the Chairman of the Greenlandic Parliament, Mute B. Egede, that Greenland is not for sale," Frederiksen's office said in a statement.

"The prime minister emphasized that it is up to Greenland itself to make a decision on independence," the statement said.

Frederiksen also stressed the importance of strengthening security in the Arctic and that Denmark was open to taking a greater responsibility, it added.