Sweden clears a Turkish hurdle to NATO accession
Hungary is still blocking it, though
FOR months, senior officials in Ankara had assured their Swedish counterparts that Turkey’s ratification of the Nordic country’s NATO membership bid was just around the corner. The long wait came to an end on January 25th, when Turkey’s president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, signed off on Sweden’s accession protocols, shortly after his country’s parliament backed the agreement. The ink of Mr Erdogan’s signature had barely dried when America agreed to provide Turkey with 40 new F-16 fighter jets and to modernise another 79, a deal worth some $23bn. America simultaneously approved the sale of up to 40 F-35 stealth fighters to Greece.
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This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “F-16s, by any means ”
Europe February 3rd 2024
From the February 3rd 2024 edition
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Marine Le Pen spooks the bond markets
She threatens to bring down the French government, but also faces a possible ban from politics
The maths of Europe’s military black hole
It needs to spend to defend, but voters may balk
Ukraine’s warriors brace for a Kremlin surge in the south
Vladimir Putin’s war machine is pushing harder and crushing Ukrainian morale
Vladimir Putin fires a new missile to amplify his nuclear threats
The attack on Ukraine is part of a new era of missile warfare
A rise in antisemitism puts Europe’s liberal values to the test
The return of Europe’s oldest scourge
Once dominant, Germany is now desperate
As an election looms its business model is breaking down