An American welcome to the Turkish approval of Sweden's NATO accession

Arriving in Vilnius on Monday for a North Atlantic Treaty Organization summit, US President Joe Biden welcomed Sweden's accession to NATO after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan delayed it for more than a year.

President Biden is scheduled to engage in bilateral discussions with Turkish President Erdogan on Tuesday while attending a NATO summit in Lithuania, as stated by the White House.

Turkey agrees to the Swedish request

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced Monday night that President Erdogan has agreed to submit an application for Sweden to join the alliance to the Turkish parliament.

On Monday evening, NATO's secretary general struggled to break the deadlock over Sweden's move to join NATO after meeting with President Erdogan and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson ahead of the Lithuanian summit.

In the wake of Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, Sweden and Finland last year abandoned their longstanding military policy of non-alignment and applied for NATO membership.

Finland was approved to join the alliance in April, but Sweden's request was rejected by Turkey and Hungary, and Stockholm continues its efforts to join the alliance during the Vilnius summit.

Erdogan has said in recent months that Sweden's accession is contingent on implementing the agreement reached at the NATO summit in Madrid last summer, adding that no one should expect concessions from Ankara.

Before the meeting, Erdogan and Kristersson appeared calm, with the Swedish leader joking about his plane parking next to the large Turkish plane at Vilnius airport.

However, the three initially met for more than two hours before taking a break.

According to the Turkish government, Stockholm has failed to effectively address individuals it perceives as terrorists, specifically individuals associated with the banned Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), an organization that Turkey, the European Union, and the United States have classified as a terrorist group.

Erdogan on Monday again raised the issue of Turkey's membership in the European Union, saying that the EU needs to pave the way for Turkish government accession before the Turkish Parliament approves Sweden's proposal to join NATO.