Gathered for a crucial summit in Madrid, the NATO countries will strengthen their military presence at the gates of Russia.
They launched this Wednesday the enlargement of the Alliance to Sweden and Finland, a move deemed "aggressive" and "deeply destabilizing" by Moscow.
The announcement, motivated by the war in Ukraine and made possible by the lifting of the Turkish veto on the basis of tough negotiations, aroused significant international reactions.
Ukraine can count on NATO's support "as long as it takes", declared the secretary general of the Alliance.
“Russia's appalling cruelty is causing immense human suffering and mass displacement, disproportionately affecting women and children.
Russia bears full responsibility for this humanitarian disaster,” Atlantic Alliance leaders said in a joint statement issued on the occasion of their summit in Madrid.
The United States reaffirms the importance of NATO
The news of the official launch of the enlargement process was carried in triumph by the historic members of the Atlantic Alliance, starting with the United States.
"We are there" and "we are proving that NATO is more necessary than ever", insisted American President Joe Biden, who announced for his part a reinforcement of the American military presence throughout Europe and in particular in the Baltic States.
Emmanuel Macron welcomes a "consensus"
Emmanuel Macron welcomed the "consensus" reached the day before on Finland and Sweden joining NATO after Turkey's veto was lifted, following a meeting with his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Madrid.
Read alsoFinland, Sweden ... How is the process of joining NATO going?
The entry into the Atlantic Alliance of these two countries, which “have robust and interoperable capabilities”, will “significantly contribute to the security of all the allies”, underlined the Head of State according to comments reported by the Elysee.
Russia sees a “destabilizing” act
The NATO summit in Madrid demonstrates the Alliance's aggressiveness towards Russia, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister said on Wednesday, describing the enlargement to Finland and Sweden as " deeply destabilizing”.
“The Madrid summit consolidates the direction of aggressive containment of Russia by the Atlantic bloc,” Deputy Minister Sergei Riabkov told Russian agencies.
This is "a deeply destabilizing factor for international affairs", he said.
"Those who propose such decisions have the illusion that Russia can be intimidated, somehow contained: they will not succeed," said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov.
"There will be no results, not the results they expect from these efforts," he said.
A decision made possible by the lifting of the Turkish veto
This membership was blocked by Turkey, a member of NATO since 1952, which accused Stockholm and Helsinki in particular of harboring militants of the Kurdish organization PKK, which Ankara considers "terrorist".
But, after long negotiations, Mr. Erdogan gave his agreement on Tuesday evening to their entry, having estimated that he had obtained their “full cooperation” in his fight against the PKK.
During their interview, Emmanuel Macron and Recep Tayyip Erdogan “both underlined the importance of displaying a message of unity and strength, in the face of the disruption of the European security order caused by Russian aggression” in Ukraine , said the Elysee.
Sweden hopes Turkey will keep its word
After the surprise agreement signed with Turkey in Madrid on joining NATO, Sweden is torn between the relief and concern of left-wing parties and the Kurdish community over the concessions made to Ankara.
"We did not go to bed in front of (Turkish President Recep Tayyip) Erdogan", said Wednesday from Madrid the head of Swedish diplomacy Ann Linde.
“We will not proceed with an extradition when there is no proof of terrorist activity.
There is no reason for the Kurds to believe that their human or democratic rights are threatened,” assured the Minister of Foreign Affairs in an interview with the Aftonbladet newspaper.
Environmentalists have asked Minister Linde to explain herself as soon as possible to the Foreign Affairs Committee, deeming the compromises on arms and extraditions “very worrying”.
“I am worried about the Kurds in Sweden,” Kurdo Baksi, a Swedish human rights activist and journalist of Kurdish origin, told AFP.
"The Kurds who are not yet Swedish citizens and who have fled the persecution of Turkey in Sweden will worry about the future," he fears.
Next step, ratification
Another point of concern concerns a possible Turkish reversal.
The ink of the agreement barely dry, Ankara immediately demanded in Stockholm and Helsinki the extradition of 33 people whom it suspects of “terrorism”.
"I can only hope that Turkey will not change its opinion along the way during the negotiations and the ratification", declared the former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt on Twitter, noting the "unpredictability" of the diplomatic behavior from Ankara.
In addition to a green light during a first phase of membership, all the 30 current members of NATO, including Turkey, must then ratify the entry of Sweden and Finland.
Unless there is a new deadlock, the fall is considered a realistic horizon for the entry of the two countries into the alliance.
