Sweden and Finland to join Nato
Turkey withdraws opposition, dealing blow to Russia
Finland and Sweden were yesterday given the green light to join Nato after convincing Turkey to drop its opposition to their membership. In a historic moment for the military alliance, the Turkish leader joined his Swedish and Finnish counterparts to sign a memorandum of understanding, paving the way for their accession to the alliance.
Jens Stoltenberg, its secretarygeneral, said: “We now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join Nato.”
The deal was brokered following negotiations on the eve of a leadership summit in Madrid. The resolution of the deadlock marked a triumph for intense diplomacy as
Nato allies try to seal the Nordic accession in record time to solidify their response to Russia — particularly in the Baltic Sea, where Finnish and Swedish membership would give the alliance military superiority.
At the conference, Nato leaders will today agree to bring Finland and Sweden into the alliance, enlarging it to a 32-member organisation. Both countries were neutral throughout the Cold War but applied to join in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
But for more than a month, Ankara had vetoed their attempts to gain membership over their alleged indulgence of Kurdish groups, such as the PKK, which Turkey has listed as a terrorist organisation.
However, last night Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president, said he had been satisfied by the Nordic nations that they would crack down on Islamic terrorists.
Sources said the Turkish leader “got what he wanted” from the talks in Madrid. To overcome Turkey’s
opposition, Finland and Sweden agreed to tighten their laws for tackling terrorist activities and open negotiations with Ankara over extradition treaties. Their deal will also open talks to lift arms embargoes imposed on Turkey in 2019 after Ankara purchased Russian missile systems.
Critics have accused Erdogan of resisting Finland and Sweden’s Nato membership to broker a deal with the US to resume sales of fighter jets.
The Turkish leader confirmed he would address the United States’ refusal to sell Ankara the F-16 warplanes, another contentious issue between Nato allies, in a separate meeting with US president Joe Biden. Washington had resisted Turkish demands to resume sales of fighter jets. However, this was expected to be a key part in a deal to bring Finland and Sweden into Nato.
Finnish and Swedish membership would more than double the length of Nato’s border with Russia, while reinforcing its defence of the Baltic states and Poland. Nato leaders will today begin two days of talks regarding the alliance’s most significant strategic overhaul since the end of the Cold War. They are set to approve plans for more than 300,000 troops to be placed on high alert, a new strategy for guarding against a Russian invasion and further support for Ukraine.
Biden will appeal to Western leaders to keep weapons flowing to Ukraine, as well as bolster Nato’s defences. Speaking alongside Pedro Sanchez, Spain’s prime minister, Biden yesterday set out plans to send two US destroyers to the Rota naval station in Spain.
“As I said before the war started, if Putin attacked Ukraine, the United States would enhance our force posture in Europe and respond to the reality of a new European security environment,” the US leader added.
— Telegraph Group Ltd