Sweden's parliament on Wednesday passed a constitutional amendment that will make it possible to pass tougher anti-terror laws, a key demand from Türkiye to approve Stockholm's NATO membership bid.
After Russia invaded Ukraine, Sweden and Finland abandoned their long-held policy of non-alignment and applied to join the military alliance.
But Türkiye has blocked Sweden and Finland's NATO membership applications, accusing Stockholm in particular of being a haven for terrorists.
Stockholm and Helsinki struck a deal with Ankara in June, which requires them not to provide support to the PKK and its offshoots, or to the Gülenist Terror Group (FETÖ), the group behind the 2016 defeated coup in Türkiye. Ankara has also called for the extradition of terror suspects.
The amendment, which passed with 278 votes in Sweden's 349-seat parliament, makes it possible to introduce new laws to "limit freedom of association when it comes to associations that engage in or support terrorism."
According to the parliament's standing committee on constitutional affairs, which recommended legislators approve the proposal, the law will enable "wider criminalization of participation in a terrorist organization or a ban against terrorist organization."
Experts have said new legislation would make it easier to prosecute members of the PKK terror group, blacklisted by Ankara and most of its Western allies.
The change will enter into force on Jan. 1.
During a visit to Ankara last week, Sweden's new Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson described the constitutional amendment as a "big step."
"Sweden will take big steps by the end of the year and early next year that will give Swedish legal authorities more muscles to fight terrorism," he said at a joint press conference with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
In Sweden, a constitutional amendment must be approved by two separate parliaments, with a general election held in between.
The first vote passed under Sweden's previous left-wing government in April, before Sweden's formal decision to apply for NATO membership in mid-May.
Only the country's Left Party expressed opposition to the change.
Turkish officials, including President Erdoğan, have warned that Türkiye will not give the nod to their memberships until the memorandum is implemented.
Swedish Prime Minister Kristersson and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg visited Türkiye in recent weeks to discuss the membership bids.
In order for a country to join NATO, unanimous consent is required, which equals the approval of all 30 existing allied countries.
The tripartite memorandum between Finland, Sweden and Türkiye for NATO membership of the Nordic nations will be fulfilled, the Swedish foreign minister reiterated on Monday.
Türkiye will only ratify the NATO membership application of Sweden and Finland if they fulfill their responsibilities stated in the deal signed in June, Justice Minister Bekir Bozdağ said last week.
Meanwhile, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's chief of staff told a briefing on Wednesday that Budapest would ratify Sweden's and Finland's accession to NATO before Türkiye.
Hungary and Türkiye are the only members of the alliance who have not yet cleared the accession. The Hungarian government has submitted the relevant legislation to parliament but it has not yet been tabled for debate and vote.
