Turkey is expected to approve Sweden's NATO membership 'within weeks' by Sweden.

• In May 2022, Sweden and Finland both submitted applications to join NATO.
• Hungary and Turkey have been keeping Sweden waiting to become an official member of the European Union, with Sweden officially joining in April 2023.
• At a NATO summit in July, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey, agreed to allow Sweden to join the alliance.
• However, the Turkish Parliament is yet to approve it.

Stockholm expects Turkey to approve its NATO membership "within weeks," the country's foreign affairs minister told CNBC after a monthslong impasse over Stockholm's future within the alliance.

In May 2022, Sweden applied to join NATO along with Finland. While Finland was admitted as an official member in April 2023, Sweden has been delayed by Hungary and Turkey.

Turkey has raised concerns about Sweden's harboring of militants from the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), while Hungary has raised concerns about previous comments made in Sweden criticizing Hungary's lack of democratic values.

Despite agreeing to let Sweden join NATO during a July summit, Turkey's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, is still waiting for the Turkish Parliament's approval.

Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström stated in Brussels on Wednesday that he had a bilateral meeting with Hakan Fidan, the foreign minister of Turkey, and learned that he anticipates the ratification to occur within weeks.

Billström stated that while they don't take anything for granted from Sweden, they hope the conversation will be completed without any new conditions or demands from the Turkish government.

Billström stated that he had received guarantees from Hungary and had spoken with his counterpart in Brussels, and that Budapest would not be the last one to ratify Stockholm's accession when asked by CNBC about the guarantees he had received from Hungary.

Yesterday, I inquired of my Hungarian colleague, Mr. Péter Szijjártó, whether he would still adhere to his pledge not to be the last country to ratify Sweden. He responded affirmatively, stating that they would not be the last to ratify. This implies that the decision now rests more in the hands of Ankara than Budapest.

He stated that white smoke would be emitted from Budapest as soon as it is released from Ankara.