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Turkey ends opposition to Sweden's NATO membership, Stoltenberg says
Turkey has agreed to submit Sweden's NATO membership bid for ratification to the Turkish parliament as soon as possible, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday in Vilnius.
Stoltenberg met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on the eve of the NATO summit to overcome the months-long deadlock.
"It makes us all stronger and safer," he added.
Swedish Prime Minister Kristersson, also in Vilnius, said: "This has been a good day for Sweden."
Kristersson stressed that the way forward agreed between the countries included long-term commitments on the Swedish side. "So this is not just something we are doing to be allowed to become a NATO member," he said, without elaborating on the agreements.
The surprise announcement comes after Erdoğan tried to link Sweden's entry to NATO with the revival of Turkey's stalled membership talks with the European Union.
World leaders rejected this idea but US President Joe Biden had hinted over the weekend at what may help make the breakthrough.
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