Sweden’s ruling Social Democratic Party gave the green light on Sunday to apply for NATO membership. Sweden, like Finland, has already indicated that it is making preparations for joining the alliance. Parliament will later debate a final decision.
Finland and Sweden want to join the military alliance in response to the Russian attack on Ukraine. All thirty NATO countries must give the green light for new members to join.
In Finland, the final decision on the membership application will be made in the coming days. The Finnish government announced on Sunday that it wanted to join the alliance. Now it is up to the Finnish parliament to make that decision final.
The Swedish Social Democrats have long opposed joining NATO, arguing that Sweden should remain impartial in armed conflict. The Scandinavian country has been neutral for more than two hundred years.
However, since the Russian attack on Ukraine, the Scandinavian country has been increasingly vocal about joining NATO. The Social Democrats are now also in favor of joining the alliance, with which a majority is emerging in the Swedish parliament. The parliament will debate the issue on Monday.
The minority government in Stockholm has already sent military equipment to Ukraine, including 5,000 anti-tank weapons, helmets, equipment and field rations. Sweden thereby broke with the policy not to send weapons to countries that are involved in a war.
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