Turkey paved the way for Sweden and Finland to join NATO. This was unanimously announced by the Turkish Presidential Office, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday evening. “Turkey, Finland and Sweden have signed a memorandum that addresses Turkey’s concerns,” Stoltenberg said at the NATO summit in Madrid. It also includes the issue of arms exports and the fight against terrorism. The Turkish Presidential Office said it had received promises of concrete steps towards extradition of terrorist suspects. Furthermore, an agreement was reached on better cooperation in the armaments industry with the lifting of restrictions. Finland and Sweden are aiming to join NATO in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. All previous NATO members must unanimously agree to the admission of new ones, which Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan refused to do. He accused Sweden and Finland of supporting Kurdish groups that the Turkish government considers terrorists. Western states suspected that the Turkish veto was a means of exerting pressure because the USA refused certain arms exports.
Summit meeting in Madrid – Turkey for NATO enlargement – Politics
