The Russia-Ukraine war: Turkey has accepted the entry of Finland and Sweden into NATO

The foreign ministers of Turkey, Mevlüt Çavusoglu; Finland, Pekka Haavisto and Sweden, Ann Linde, signed an agreement on Tuesday after several hours of meetings to unblock the Turkish veto on these Nordic countries’ access to NATO.

In a ceremony in front of the press and without saying a word, in the presence of the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stolteneberg; Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan; the president of Finland, Sauli Niinisto, and the Swedish prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, have signed “an agreement”, allied sources told Efe.

“I am pleased to announce that we already have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO,” Stoltenberg said on the first day of the NATO summit in Madrid. the deal “responds to Turkey’s concerns”which opposed membership due to the proximity of both countries to Kurdish independence groups, he added.

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said on Tuesday that the deal reached in Madrid with Turkey and Sweden is “an important step“for your country’s accession to NATO.

“An important step towards the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO!”, Tweeted Marin on the agreement reached between the foreign ministers of Turkey, Mevlüt Çavusoglu; Finland, Pekka Haavisto and Sweden, Ann Linde.

The three signed an agreement after several hours of meetings to unblock the Turkish veto on these Nordic countries’ access to NATO.

For his part, the Finnish president, Sauli Niinistö, said in a statement that after the “comprehensive meeting” held in the Spanish capital “our foreign ministers signed a trilateral protocol which confirms that Turkey at the Madrid Summit this week will support the invitation from Finland and Sweden to become NATO members. “

“NATO allies will agree on the concrete steps of our NATO membership in the next two days, but this decision is now imminent,” Niinistö said.

Source: AFP, EFE and AP

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