IRIA News

In a breakthrough development during the Madrid Summit 2022, Turkey agreed to lift its opposition against Sweden and Finland’s accession into the NATO alliance.

Finland’s President Sauli Niinisto announced that his country has managed to secure Turkey’s agreement admission into the alliance.

The announcement came on the first day of NATO leaders’ annual summit in Madrid after a trilateral meeting between Finnish President Niinisto, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The meeting was moderated by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. During the talks, three countries signed a memorandum “to extend their full support against threats to each other’s security.”

Turkey also released an individual statement on the matter which stated that Turkey “got what it wanted” and it has made “significant gains in the fight against terrorist organization.”

Turkey accused the Scandinavian countries of harboring terrorism due to their alleged support for the individuals associated with the Kurdistan Worker’s Party (PKK).

Turkish President Erdogan’s administration had also been demanding that Sweden must lift its arms sales embargo against Turkey that was imposed after Ankara’s incursion into Syria. Other demands from Turkey included the extradition of wanted individuals who are living under political asylum in Finland and Sweden.

During the talks between the leaders from the three countries in Madrid, Sweden and Finland agreed to address all of Turkey’s demands including lifting the arms sale embargo that was imposed in 2019.

Turkey, Finland, and Sweden made a commitment on the following points of agreement:

• Establishing a joint, structured dialogue and cooperation mechanism at all levels of government, including between law enforcement and intelligence agencies, to enhance cooperation on counter-terrorism, organized crime, and other common challenges as they so decide.
• Finland and Sweden will conduct the fight against terrorism with determination, resolve, and in accordance with the provisions of the relevant NATO documents and policies, and will take all required steps to tighten further domestic legislation to this end.
• Finland and Sweden will address Turkey’s pending deportation or extradition requests of terror suspects expeditiously and thoroughly, taking into account information, evidence, and intelligence provided by Turkey, and establish necessary bilateral legal frameworks to facilitate extradition and security cooperation with Turkey in accordance with the European Convention on Extradition.
• Finland and Sweden will investigate and interdict any financing and recruitment activities of the PKK and all other terrorist organizations and their extensions, as well affiliates or inspired groups. 
• Turkey, Finland, and Sweden commit to fighting disinformation and prevent their domestic laws from being abused for the benefit or promotion of terrorist organizations, including through activities that incite violence against Turkey
•  Finland and Sweden will ensure that their respective national regulatory frameworks for arms exports enable new commitments to Allies and reflects their status as NATO members.
• Finland and Sweden commit to supporting the fullest possible involvement of Turkey and other non-EU Allies in the existing and prospective initiatives of the European Union’s Common Security and Defence Policy.

The trilateral negotiations between Turkey, Finland, and Sweden had been going on for weeks, as Turkey’s opposition was the only hurdle in the way of Nordic nations’ admission into the NATO alliance. Earlier on June 20, representatives from the three countries met in Brussels in order to address Ankara’s opposition before the annual NATO leaders summit in Madrid.

In addition to Finland and Sweden’s membership bids in the 30-member military alliance, the three-day NATO summit in Madrid will also discuss the Ukraine-Russia war and NATO’s new strategic concept.