Putin's Crusade Against NATO Delivered New Blow

Russian President Vladimir Putin's crusade against NATO expansion has taken another hit after Turkey removed a key obstacle for Sweden's entry into the strategic alliance.

The Turkish parliament endorsed Sweden's NATO membership on Tuesday in a vote of 287 to 55, according to the Associated Press. Four members abstained, while many more did not vote in the 600-member legislative body.

Putin and his allies have strongly opposed NATO expansion, arguing that it poses a threat to Russia and citing it as one of the reasons Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine nearly two years ago.

Despite the Russian president's wishes, the alliance is growing its borders and expanded last year to include Finland. While Sweden also applied for membership, opposition from Turkey and Hungary have left its entry somewhat in doubt.

Sweden's accession would put NATO in almost complete control over the Baltic Sea, with the exception of the Russian exclave Kaliningrad, which is on the Baltic between Lithuania and Poland.

Newsweek reached out for comment to Putin's office via email on Tuesday.

Dr. Erwan Lagadec, associate research professor at George Washington University's Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies, told Newsweek that Putin's reaction to Finland's accession—pretending that it was "not a big deal"—will likely be repeated if Sweden's membership is finalized.

"Finland's accession on the face of it is such an obvious own-goal for the Kremlin," Lagadec said. "Putin is also fully cognizant of the fact that there's not much he can do in practice to retaliate, as his military is already overstretched in Ukraine."

"The context of the upcoming elections in Russia makes it even more likely that Putin will dismiss the news, and let his 'attack dogs' do the dirty work of signaling to Russian nationalists that he's on top of things," he added.

Lagadec went on to say that "the consequences of Sweden joining NATO are in some ways even more dire for Russia" than Finland's membership, since "the move would complete the transformation of the Baltic Sea into a "NATO lake."

Turkey's vote on Tuesday means that the only NATO member yet to approve Sweden's entry is Hungary—a country with a leader, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who is often described as an ally of Putin.

"I also count on Hungary to complete its national ratification as soon as possible," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement. "Sweden has fulfilled its commitments. Sweden's membership makes NATO stronger and all of us safer."

It is unclear when the issue of Sweden's accession might be taken up by the Hungarian parliament, which is in recess until mid-February.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson celebrated Turkey's vote in a post to X, formerly Twitter, writing that it brought his nation "one step closer to becoming a full member of NATO."

Turkish President Recep Erdoğan had initially opposed Sweden's application for NATO membership but reversed course after reaching an agreement in July.

Earlier this month, Stockholm committed to sending "ground combat units" to NATO's borders with Russia, where tensions continue to mount.

The Baltic countries—Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia—recently announced a plan to build hundreds of bunkers along their borders to defend against "the slightest risk" from Russia and its ally, Belarus.

Last month, Putin insisted that he was "interested in developing relations" with NATO members and had "no reason" and "no geopolitical interest" to "fight with" member states.

U.S.-based think tank Institute for the Study of War (ISW) dismissed the remarks at the time, arguing that Putin was less than convincing due to "the threats he and Kremlin pundits have recently been making against NATO member states."

An ISW report published last week argued that Putin's recent rhetoric toward the Baltic states was intended "to set information conditions" for "future escalations" that could weaken and ultimately dismantle NATO.