NATO holds its most important summit for decades

Recep tayyip erdogan, Turkey’s president, wore his usual morose expression. It was mirrored by the stony faces of Magdalena Andersson, Sweden’s prime minister, and Sauli Niinisto, Finland’s president. Only a gentle smile from Jens Stoltenberg, the secretary-general of nato, hinted at the diplomatic breakthrough that had just occurred. After four hours of intense wrangling in Madrid on the eve of a nato summit, Mr Erdogan had lifted his veto on Finland’s and Sweden’s bid to join the alliance in return for assurances about their links to Kurdish militants.