Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan submits protocol for Sweden's admission to NATO
India TV NewsTurkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has submitted a protocol for the admission of Sweden to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation for ratification after repeated delays, according to his office on Monday. Erdogan had delayed the ratification of Sweden's NATO membership over claims of Stockholm failing to take a clear stance against Kurdish militants and other groups he considers to be security threats. “Sweden has delivered on what they promised, and now we need the ratification of Swedish membership.” Sweden and Finland's NATO bid Sweden and its neighbour Finland abandoned decades of military non-alignment after President Vladimir Putin ordered Russian troops to invade Ukraine in February 2022, seeking protection under NATO's security umbrella. Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Moscow “will be forced to take military-technical and other retaliatory measures to counter the threats to our national security arising from Finland’s accession to NATO.” According to BBC, Sweden has a small contribution to NATO with a military capacity of 57,000 personnel.