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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan lifted the veto on Finland and Sweden’s bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). After reaching agreements on security issues, the three nations end the discussion of recent weeks to increase the alliance’s response power and find solutions for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
After a meeting of almost four hours between the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, his Finnish counterpart, Saulio Niinisto, and the Prime Minister of Sweden, Magdalena Andersson, an agreement was signed in which Turkey lifts the veto on the accession of the two Nordic countries to NATO.
“I am pleased to announce that we now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO,” said Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General.
The meeting was held prior to the start of the summit that brings together the 30 leaders of the nations that make up the military organization in Madrid. Through the meeting that ends this Thursday, it is intended to issue a resolution against Russia, cataloged by the alliance as a “direct threat to world security” for its invasion of Ukraine.
A major shift in European geopolitics
Erdogan refused Sweden and Finland to join NATO, after accusing them of favoring members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the People’s Protection Units (YPG), considered terrorist groups by Ankara.
With the approval for the entry of Helsinki and Stockholm into the alliance, a historical tradition of neutrality on the part of the Nordic countries is broken, showing the greatest change in recent years in European geopolitics.
“Our foreign ministers signed a trilateral memorandum confirming that Turkey will support Finland and Sweden’s invitation to become NATO members,” Finnish President Niinisto said in a statement. He also stated that the steps for the entry of the two countries will be agreed in the next two days. It is expected that tomorrow the official invitation will be made by the allies.
Finland shares a 1,300 km border with Russia and its location is strategic in case a military response becomes necessary to contain the Russian invasion of Ukraine, however, after the official invitation by the leaders of the countries, the decision it must be ratified and it is a process that could take up to a year.
The agreement between the three countries
In the trilateral agreement, it was agreed that Sweden will intensify the procedures for requests for the extradition of alleged militants of Kurdish groups in Swedish territory to Turkey. President Erdogan in May accused the Andersson government of harboring militants from the PKK group, which was formed in Turkey in 1984.
Congratulations to Finland, Sweden, and Turkey on signing a trilateral memorandum – a crucial step towards a NATO invite to Finland and Sweden, which will strengthen our Alliance and bolster our collective security – and a great way to begin the Summit. pic.twitter.com/ug47DhRDGl
— President Biden (@POTUS) June 28, 2022
Similarly, Sweden and Finland could lift a current restriction on arms sales to Turkey. The Turkish government stated that the signed agreement demonstrates a commitment to “full cooperation with Turkey in the fight against the PKK and its affiliates.”
With the accession of the two new countries, the alliance would be given superiority and NATO’s response power would increase, mainly in the Baltic Sea. With the integration of Sweden and Finland, all the Nordic countries would be included, adding Norway, Denmark and Iceland.
US President Joe Biden welcomed the decision and welcomed the two countries. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that this is “fantastic news” to start the summit.
with Reuters
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