The Turkish parliament has approved Sweden's accession to NATO after several months of discussions, UNN reports citing Bloomberg.
The parliamentary plenary in Ankara on Tuesday voted to accept Sweden's application, sending the document back to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for final signature before it can be sent to the U.S. State Department in Washington.
The publication notes that this move puts Sweden on the verge of realizing its goal of becoming the 32nd member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization a year and eight months after submitting an application that marked a turnaround in its defense policy. Moving in lockstep with neighboring Finland, Stockholm concluded in May 2022 that joining the alliance would be the best way to deter any aggression from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. Finland joined NATO in April.