In a surprising change of tune Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has apparently agreed to advance Sweden's bid for NATO membership announced NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

According to a NATO press statement Erdogan agreed take the ratification process to Turkey's Parliament for advancement as soon as possible.

"Sweden and Turkey agree today to continue their cooperation," the statement said after laying out the steps Sweden has taken to address Turkey's security concerns which have blocked Stockholm's accession into NATO for over a year. 

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The surprising announcement comes just hours after Erdogan said he would support Sweden’s accession into NATO if Turkey was granted membership into the European Union. 

Erdogan has ardently stood in Stockholm’s way since it first launched its bid over a year ago to join the now 31-member NATO alliance alongside Finland. 

But while Finland was given the green light in April to join the military bloc, Sweden has faced opposition from Turkey, and more recently Hungry, over Stockholm’s lenient stance towards Kurdish individuals affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), who Turkey perceives as "terrorists."

"I am calling from here on these countries that are making Turkey wait at the door of the European Union for more than 50 years," Erdogan said Monday ahead the NATO summit this week. "First, come and open the way for Turkey at the European Union and then we will open the way for Sweden, just as we did for Finland."

Under Erdogan’s leadership Turkey has been attempting to join the European Union since 2005 during his first term as prime minister.

But the 27-member union has blocked its entrance over concerns relating to human rights and political turmoil, particularly following a failed coup attempt in 2016.

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World officials have pushed back on Erdogan’s demands pointing out that the E.U. and NATO are separate entities and are not tied to one another. 

"The accession process for each candidate country is based on the merits of each country," an E.U. spokesperson told Reuters. 

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that while he backs Turkey’s membership of the E.U., he noted that Sweden already meets all the requirements to join NATO – the only hiccup being the unanimous consent needed from all member nations. 

The U.S. State Department echoed these comments and said that though it too backs Erdogan’s attempts to join the E.U., ultimately "they are separate issues."

"That is a separate question than the question about Sweden joining NATO," a State Department spokesperson told reporters Monday. "We think it's time for Sweden to join NATO, and we hope Turkey will support them."

Reuters contributed to this report.

A video has emerged of a car being washed away down a street in Reading, Pennsylvania, as severe flooding impacted the region over the weekend. 

The National Weather Service reports Monday that the city 60 miles west of Philadelphia has received 7.17 inches of rain over the last 24 hours. 

"I’m just watching my car just swim away!" a man’s voice could be heard saying as a blue sedan drifts down a heavily flooded road. 

The vehicle then collides into a bulldozer. 

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"There goes your bumper," another voice says. 

Police told Fox29 Philadelphia that they were fielding calls for water rescues near Quakertown, which is east of Reading. 

A water rescue also unfolded in nearby Douglass Township, the station added. 

In Reading, at least 40 people were displaced by flooding and they are being assisted by the Red Cross, according to CBS News Philadelphia. 

In New York, at least one person was killed in extreme flooding in the Hudson Valley, where the weather swamped roadways and forced road closures Sunday night. 

Rescue teams in the Hudson Valley attempted to recover the body of a woman in her 30s who drowned after she was swept away while trying to evacuate her home, from which two other people escaped, according to The Associated Press. 

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Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus said the force of the flash flooding dislodged boulders that crashed into the woman’s house and damaged part of its wall. 

"Her house was completely surrounded by water," he said. "She was trying to get through [the flooding] with her dog and she was overwhelmed by tidal-wave type waves." 

The storm, which delivered up to 8 inches of rain to that area, has already caused tens of millions of dollars in damage, officials said. 

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul declared a state of emergency Sunday for Orange County before later extending it to Ontario County in western New York. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said he is "closely monitoring the devastating flash flooding in New York." 

"Thank you to our brave Hudson Valley first responders working tirelessly to keep communities safe," he wrote in a tweet. "Please stay safe and follow emergency guidance." 

Fox News' Landon Mion and The Associated Press contributed to this report.