Opinion editor's note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.
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Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year, NATO has been more relevant than ever.
Now, it must be more united than ever. In some respects, it's already heading that way. Especially after Turkey ended its hold on Sweden's bid to join the 31-member alliance on Monday, the eve of a crucial two-day NATO Summit in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Sweden was supposed to join at the same time Finland did this year in a welcome development for the West but a worrying one for Moscow. But its bid had been held up by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's demands regarding the extradition of some members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, whom the Turkish government considers terrorists, as well as revulsion over Sweden allowing Qur'an burning at some protests.
Ankara's objections weren't just with Stockholm, however, but with Washington as well. A deal to buy advanced U.S. fighter jets has been held up by Congress because of Turkey's previous purchase of a Russian defense system — just one of the many manifestations of what recently has been a too-close Turkey-Russia relationship.
Reports of the accord suggest that Sweden and Turkey will work together on terrorism, that NATO will institute a new "special coordinator for counterterrorism," and that Sweden will help renew Turkey's bid to enter a separate political entity, the European Union. (Hungary, which had also balked at Sweden's ascension, is likely to drop its objections after Turkey made its move.)
"It's a good sign for NATO if, in fact, Erdogan now is trying to recalibrate or rebalance his relations with the West," Thomas Hanson, chair of the Committee on Foreign Relations Minnesota, told an editorial writer on Monday.