Turkey supports Finland and Sweden NATO bids

Reuters - Anadolu Agency

NATO ally Turkey on June 28 lifted its veto over Finland and Sweden's bid to join the Western alliance after the three nations agreed to protect each other's security, ending a weeks-long drama that tested allied unity against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The breakthrough came after four hours of talks just before a NATO summit began in Madrid, averting an embarrassing impasse at the gathering of 30 leaders that aims to show resolve against Russia, now seen by the U.S.-led alliance as a direct security threat rather than a possible adversary.

It means Helsinki and Stockholm can proceed with their application to join the nuclear-armed alliance, cementing what is set to be the biggest shift in European security in decades, as the two, long neutral Nordic countries seek NATO protection.

"Our foreign ministers signed a trilateral memorandum which confirms that Turkey will ... support the invitation of Finland and Sweden to become members of NATO," Finnish President Niinisto said in a statement.

"The concrete steps of our accession to NATO will be agreed by the NATO allies during the next two days, but that decision is now imminent," Niinisto said.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg and Turkey's presidency confirmed the accord in separate statements, after talks between the NATO chief, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Niinisto.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted: "Fantastic news as we kick off the NATO summit. Sweden and Finland's membership will make our brilliant alliance stronger and safer."

Stoltenberg said NATO's 30 leaders would now invite Finland, which shares a 1,300 km (810-mile) border with Russia, and Sweden to join NATO and that they would become official "invitees". He told reporters: "The door is open - the joining of Finland and Sweden into NATO will take place."

However, even with a formal invitation granted, NATO's 30 allied parliaments must ratify the decision by leaders, a process that could take up to a year.

TERMS OF THE MEMORANDUM

Turkey's main demands, which came as a surprise to NATO allies in late May, were for the Nordic countries to stop supporting Kurdish militant groups present on their territory, and to lift their bans on some sales of arms to Turkey.

Stoltenberg said the terms of the deal involved Sweden intensifying work on Turkish extradition requests of suspected militants and amending Swedish and Finnish law to toughen their approach to them.

Stoltenberg said Sweden and Finland would lift their restrictions on selling weapons to Turkey.

Turkey has raised serious concerns that Sweden has been harbouring what it says are militants from the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), which took up arms against the Turkish state in 1984. Stockholm denies the accusation.

The Turkish presidency statement said the four-way agreement reached on Tuesday meant: "Full cooperation with Turkey in the fight against the PKK and its affiliates."

It also said Sweden and Finland were "demonstrating solidarity with Turkey in the fight against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations."

Finnish President Sauli Niinisto told reporters that the bid to join NATO does not list individuals for extradition and that the memorandum describes principles for extraditions related to terrorism, not individual citizens.

BIDEN SPOKE TO ERDOĞAN

On the other hand, US President Joe Biden congratulated Turkey, Sweden and Finland after the three nations agreed on the memorandum.

"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," Biden wrote on Twitter.

A senior U.S. official stated that Biden spoke to Erdoğan on June 28 about this issue at the request of Finland and Sweden.

Biden is to have a meeting with Erdoğan during the NATO summit. Erdoğan said before leaving for Madrid that he would push Biden on an F-16 fighter jet purchase.

He said he would discuss with Biden the issue of Ankara's procurement of S-400 air defence systems from Russia - which led to U.S. sanctions - as well as modernisation kits from Washington and other bilateral issues.