After joining the alliance, Sweden would participate in the NATO patrol mission in the airspace of the Baltic states from Lithuania, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristerson confirmed on Tuesday during his visit to Vilnius.
“Sweden will help NATO airspace patrols with its presence,” he told reporters.
Christerson thanked Lithuania for its support on Sweden and Finland’s path to NATO membership.
As the Prime Minister of Sweden emphasized, the joining of the two countries to the alliance will strengthen NATO’s regional ground forces.
As the presiding country of the European Union, Sweden will focus on European security issues in the first half of this year, Christerson assured.
He also expressed his conviction that it is necessary to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian encroachment, stressing that Ukraine’s destiny is also Europe’s destiny.
Both Nordic countries applied for NATO membership in May. A month later, they signed a tripartite agreement with Turkey to resolve Ankara’s objections to accepting Finland and Sweden into the alliance.
Apart from Turkey, only Hungary, which promised to do so in February, has not ratified the admission of Finland and Sweden to NATO.
