Yes to Sweden and Finland in NATO: Erdogan finds agreement and withdraws the veto – Foreign

Rome, 29 June 2022 – Turkey has withdrawn its veto on the entry of Sweden and Finland into NATO. The Madrid Summit is already a success. The foreign ministers of the three countries signed a memorandum in the presence of the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Swedish Prime Minister, Magdalena Andersson, and the Finnish President Sauli Niinisto, who yesterday discussed for some hours on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Madrid. The joint document addresses the issues of the support of the two Nordic countries for the PKK and the lifting of their restrictions on arms exports to Turkey, the two reasons that led Ankara to place a temporary veto. “The signed memorandum – the NATO secretary general announced – responds to Turkey’s concerns about the fight against terrorism and the export of arms”. Stoltenberg explained that Sweden and Finland have agreed to “support the fight against Turkish security threats, change their legislation, tighten the PKK and accept an extradition agreement, which respects European standards. With the entry of Sweden and Finland in the alliance we will all be safer “. “Ankara got what it asked for” confirmed the Turkish presidency. Turkey: ok to Sweden and Finland in NATO. Stoltenberg: “Just what Putin wanted to avoid” For Putin this is another bad news. He had wagered that aggression against Ukraine would divide an EU that he saw as fearful and divided, and weaken NATO’s ambitions. He had the opposite. The Madrid summit relaunches the Atlantic Alliance, which again has a clear and threatening enemy, and therefore a mission, and now says yes to an unexpected enlargement to Sweden and Finland that will lead it to have another 1,400 kilometers of direct border with the Russia. “The summit starts well. The effects of …