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Charlotte Lawson /

Sweden’s Stalled NATO Bid, Explained

Turkey and Hungary resist mounting pressure to approve Sweden’s membership in the alliance.
Turkiye, Sweden, Finland meet in Ankara for NATO talks
Officials from Finland, Sweden, Turkey, and NATO meeting in Ankara, Turkey on June 14, 2023. (Photo by Ahmet Okur/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan dashed European leaders’ hopes last week that his May reelection would soften his opposition to Sweden’s accession into NATO. “Sweden has expectations,” Erdoğan said Wednesday after meetings between officials from Sweden, Turkey, Finland, and NATO in Ankara.

Charlotte Lawson is an editor at The Dispatch, currently based in Florida. She previously reported from Turkey and Israel. Prior to joining the company in 2020, she studied history and global security at the University of Virginia. When Charlotte is not keeping up with world affairs, she is probably trying her hand at oil painting.

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