Following Sweden's and Finland's application for NATO membership in mid - May, it was not long before Turkey declared its intention to use its veto against the two countries.

Among other things, Sweden was accused of being a refuge for terrorists.

The outbursts from the government in Ankara were harsh, as was the criticism in the pro-government media.

The road to NATO membership suddenly became much more difficult and several observers warned that Turkey's resistance would last a long time.

Now, just over a month later, an agreement is ready.

It means that Turkey withdraws its veto in exchange for Sweden and Finland promising tougher measures against terrorism.

Exactly what this means, however, is unclear.

Sweden has already decided on stricter terrorist legislation and after the election, further tightening will be implemented.

Sweden has also promised a more generous view of munitions exports to Turkey.

After the invasion of northern Syria in 2019, Swedish arms exports to Turkey were stopped.

However, it has not been very extensive, but the decision to stop all business was still perceived as a hostile act by Turkey.

The fact that Sweden is now declaring itself ready to export munitions to Turkey is a clear success for President Erdogan and his government.

"Several question marks"

In Turkish pro-government media, Turkish representatives also emphasized on Tuesday evening that they were very pleased with the agreement reached with Sweden and Finland.

They pointed out, among other things, that Sweden and Finland had promised not to support the Syrian-Kurdish militia YPG, which according to Turkey is a branch of the terrorist organization PKK.

But here, too, there are several question marks about what the deal actually means.

Since Turkey announced its veto against Swedish and Finnish NATO membership, a number of meetings have been held between the countries.

A special group of state secretaries has met three times to try to lay the groundwork for a settlement.

Both Finnish President Niinistö and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson have also had several talks with Turkish President Erdogan.

At the same time, representatives of several other heavy NATO countries have courted Erdogan and his government.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has also been deeply involved in the issue.

"Important reinforcement"

For NATO as a whole, Swedish and Finnish NATO membership is considered an important strengthening of the northern flank.

The Baltic Sea will in practice become a NATO inland sea and NATO's strategic position in this region will be clearly strengthened.

In addition, this NATO enlargement is a major political success for NATO in the escalating conflict with Russia.

The question is thus whether Turkey's decision today should be seen as a Swedish and Finnish negotiating triumph, or whether the question has actually been decided by large NATO countries with the United States at the forefront.

However, it is unclear what pressure Turkey has been subjected to or what possible concessions have been made towards Turkey.

An issue that is considered important for Turkey is the country's long-standing desire to buy American fighter jets, a deal that has been stopped since Turkey chose to buy a Russian air defense system.