Sweden determines the benefits of NATO when the membership offer looms The Mighty 790 KFGO
By Simon Johnson and Johan Ahlander
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – A Swedish membership in NATO would increase national security and help stabilize the Nordic and Baltic countries, Foreign Minister Ann Linde said on Friday, a day after neighboring Finland said it would try to join the US-led without delay. the military alliance.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced Sweden – and its closest military partner Finland – to publicly take sides after standing outside the Atlantic Alliance since its founding in 1949 to counter the Soviet Union in the Cold War.
Stockholm is generally expected to follow Helsinki and can apply to join NATO with 30 countries as early as Monday.
– A Swedish NATO membership would raise the threshold for military conflicts and thus have a conflict prevention effect in northern Europe, Linde told reporters when she presented the conclusions from a security review to all parties who examined the advantages and disadvantages of NATO membership for Sweden. .
“The most important consequence of a Swedish membership in NATO would be that Sweden would become part of NATO’s collective security and be included in security guarantees according to … Article 5.”
Article 5 of the NATO Charter states that an attack on any NATO country should be seen as an attack on all.
While Sweden and Finland have had close relations with NATO for years and regularly participate in exercises and meetings of its highest brass, they are not covered by its security guarantee.
FROM THE ARCTIC TO THE BLACK SEA
The fact that Finland and Sweden join NATO would redraw the geopolitical map of northern Europe and create a largely unbroken band of member states facing Russia, which stretches from the Arctic to the Black Sea.
On Thursday, Finland’s president and prime minister said the country – which shares a 1,300km (810km) border and a difficult past with Russia – must apply to join NATO’s military alliance “without delay”.
Russia said Finland’s bid was a hostile move that posed a threat to its security.
Moscow has previously talked about potentially stationing nuclear-armed missiles on the Russian territory of Kaliningrad, sandwiched between NATO members Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea, if Finland or Sweden join the bloc.
– If Sweden chooses to apply for membership in NATO, there is a risk of a reaction from Russia, says Minister of Defense Peter Hultqvist. “Let me say that in such a case we are prepared to deal with all responses.”
On Sunday, Sweden’s ruling Social Democrats will decide whether to formally agree to join NATO and are generally expected to release decades of opposition to membership. Parliament will then discuss security issues on Monday.
Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson is expected to call an extra government meeting immediately after the debate with an application sent to NATO headquarters at the end of the day, the newspaper Expressen reports with reference to unnamed sources.
An application would need to be approved by all NATO countries and later by the Swedish Parliament.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday that Finland would be “warmly welcomed” and promised a “smooth and rapid” accession process, while the US government said it would support a membership application from both Finland and Sweden.
(Report by Johan Ahlander and Simon Johnson; edited by Niklas Pollard and Mark Heinrich)