The Swedish Prime Minister announces that the country’s governing party for the first time in several decades supports joining NATO
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Sweden’s Prime Minister says that the governing party supports the country’s attempt to join NATO.
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Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said Russia’s invasion of Ukraine “fundamentally changed” security.
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The country plans to join Finland to apply for NATO membership.
Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said that the country’s ruling party supports the country’s commitment to join North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
“Today, the Social Democratic Party has come to the conclusion that Sweden should join NATO,” Andersson said at a press conference on Sunday.
Andersson’s party has for decades opposed joining the alliance for decades, Reuters reported.
“Our 200-year policy for military freedom of alliance has served Sweden well, but the question is whether military freedom of alliance will continue to serve us well,” she said.
She said that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was not only “illegal” but undermined Sweden’s security, adding that the security environment “has fundamentally changed”.
Andersson said that although Sweden has been a non-military-adapted country, it is not “neutral” and supports relations with neighboring countries.
Sweden will apply to join NATO with neighboring Finland. On Saturday, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said he had spoken to Russian President Vladimir Putin and informed him of his plans to apply for membership NATO in the next few days.
Niinisto also said that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Putin’s efforts to stop countries from joining NATO had “changed Finland’s security environment”.
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