Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said on Tuesday (06.28.2022) that Turkey agreed to support the joint membership of Finland and Sweden in NATO, on the first day of the military alliance’s summit in the Spanish capital Madrid.
Niinisto said in a statement that the breakthrough came after the three countries signed a trilateral agreement that “confirms that Turkey will support this week at the Madrid summit the invitation for Finland and Sweden to become NATO members.”
“I am pleased to announce that we now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO,” said military alliance secretary general Jens Stoltenberg.
The Prime Minister of Finland, Sanna Marin, celebrated the agreement reached shortly after. “An important step towards Finland and Sweden joining NATO!” she wrote on Twitter.
Turkey “got what it wanted” to lift its veto on the entry of Sweden and Finland, which it accuses of tolerating Kurdish PKK fighters, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s office said on Tuesday.
“Turkey has made important achievements in the fight against terrorist organizations,” the presidency said in a statement.
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