MADRID (AP) — Turkey has agreed to lift its opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, a breakthrough in an impasse clouding a leaders’ summit in Madrid amid Europe’s worst security crisis in decades triggered by the war in Ukraine. After urgent talks, alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said “we now have an agreement that paves the way for Finland and Sweden to join NATO.” Russia’s invasion of Ukraine prompted Sweden and Finland to abandon their long-held nonaligned status. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had blocked the move, insisting the Nordic pair change their stance on Kurdish rebel groups that Turkey considers terrorists. Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson told the AP that the membership should be completed “the sooner the better.”
Turkey lifts its objections to Sweden, Finland joining NATO
