Following Turkish blackmail, 30 NATO states sign accession protocols for Finland, Sweden
The 30 NATO allies signed off on the accession protocols for Sweden and Finland on July 5, sending the membership bids of the two nations to the alliance capitals for legislative approvals. The move further increases Russia’s strategic isolation. The 30 ambassadors and permanent representatives formally approved decisions made at a NATO summit in Madrid last week, when the leaders of member nations invited Russia’s neighbor Finland and Scandinavian partner Sweden to join the military club. Securing parliamentary approval for the new members in Türkiye, however, could still pose a problem even though Sweden, Finland and Türkiye reached a memorandum of understanding at the Madrid summit. MORE
Turkey Renews Threat to Block Sweden, Finland NATO Bids If Demands Aren’t Met | Antiwar.com |Turkey has reiterated that it will still block Sweden and Finland’s NATO memberships if they don’t fulfill obligations agreed to in a ten-point memorandum signed between the three nations. “They have to comply with this document, if they don’t then we won’t allow them to join NATO,” Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Monday. Ankara lifted its objection to Sweden and Finland’s NATO applications after signing the memorandum at the NATO summit in Madrid last week. Under the deal, Sweden and Finland agreed to respond to Turkey’s extradition requests, lift export controls on Turkey, and not support Kurdish militant groups, including the PKK. Ankara plans to ask Sweden for the extradition of 73 people, mostly suspected PKK members, but it’s not clear at this point if Stockholm will cooperate.