Finland, Sweden back on path to NATO membership as Turkey drops veto

MADRID/HELSINKI: NATO ally Turkey lifted its veto over Finland and Sweden's bid to join the Western alliance on Tuesday 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.

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

US President Joe Biden, who arrived in Madrid before a dinner with his fellow NATO leaders, did not directly address the issue in his public comments with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and King Felipe of Spain.

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