It's one more snub for Vladimir Putin.
After the formalization of the status of candidate member of the EU for Ukraine, Finland and Sweden - both close, even bordering Russia for the first - will be able to integrate NATO after Turkey has given its agreement to enter the military alliance of these two Nordic countries after more than three hours of discussions Tuesday in Madrid, on the sidelines of the summit of the Atlantic Alliance.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has indeed obtained "full cooperation" from Finland and Sweden against Kurdish PKK fighters and their allies, the Turkish presidency announced in a statement on Tuesday evening.
A sine qua non for the Ottoman presidency, which said it had "got what it wanted".
The agreement was signed Tuesday evening in front of the cameras by the heads of diplomacy of the three countries concerned.
Solidarity in all its forms with Turkey against terrorism
The two candidate countries are committed to "full cooperation with Turkey in the fight" against the Kurdistan Workers' Party, considered by Ankara and its Western allies as a terrorist organization, as well as against the movements affiliated with it, is he specified in this text.
Helsinki and Stockholm also pledge to “show solidarity with Turkey in the fight against terrorism in all its forms”.
Similarly, the two capitals have agreed not to "impose restrictions or embargo on defense industries", continued the Turkish presidency.
These were the main demands of Turkey to lift its objection to the enlargement of NATO to Sweden and Finland.
The Turkish presidency further asserts that the two newcomers will take "concrete measures for the extradition of terrorist criminals" from their territories and for "prohibiting the fundraising and recruitment activities of the PKK and its affiliates" at home.
"A serious error" with "considerable scope", for the Kremlin
Finally, she welcomes the fact that the "Fetö" movement of preacher Fethullah Gülen, based in the United States and which President Erdogan holds responsible for the 2016 coup attempt, is recognized as "a terrorist organization". just like the PKK, the YPG and the others.
She sees it as "a very important step in the international dimension of Turkey's fight" against terrorism.
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The NATO countries will officially "invite" these two countries to join the Alliance on Wednesday after the lifting of the Turkish veto, announced its secretary general Jens Stoltenberg to the press in Madrid.
In mid-May, the Kremlin reacted to the intentions of the two Nordic countries.
Russian President Vladimir Putin then considered that Finland's and Sweden's membership in NATO did not constitute "a threat" in itself, but that the Kremlin would react to military deployments.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Riabkov saw it as a “serious additional error”, “whose consequences will have far-reaching consequences”.
The Russian offensive in Ukraine is perceived as a threat by Stockholm but especially Helsinki, Finland sharing nearly 1,300 km of borders with Russia.
Moscow had, among other reasons, justified its attack on Ukraine by its rapprochement with NATO and the political, diplomatic and military support of the latter in kyiv.
The Russian authorities thus wanted to push Westerners away from its borders.
The countries of the Alliance are also supplying a quantity of arms to the Ukrainian forces which have been fighting the Russian army for nearly three months.