Turkey, Finland, and Sweden are finally playing nice

Turkey officially lifted its veto over Finland and Sweden’s applications to join NATO yesterday, after the three nations reached an agreement to protect each other's security. Long story short: the two Nordic countries are now on a path to join the military alliance within the next several months.

🇹🇷🇫🇮🇸🇪 Background… Since NATO operates by consensus, it’s possible for one country to block an application for new member status, which gave Turkey leverage when Sweden and Finland sought to join earlier this year following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

• Turkey had taken exception to how the two countries have handled domestic Kurdish terrorism, but relented after the trio committed to working together on issues of concern.
• Their deal was reached hours before the start of a three-day NATO summit in Madrid yesterday, where the 30-member military alliance labeled Russia as “the most immediate threat to our security.”

🧠 In the know: If Finland and Sweden are added, NATO would more than double the length of its border with Russia, the global power it was formed to counteract.

🌎 Zoom out: NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said earlier this week that the military alliance will boost the number of troops on high alert by more than sevenfold to 300,000, describing the move as “the biggest overhaul of our collective deterrence and defense since the Cold War."