Sweden’s accession to NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) would enhance its national security and help stabilize the Nordic and Baltic regions, Foreign Minister Ann Linde said on Friday, a day after neighboring Finland said it would seek “without delay” to join the US-led military alliance.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has forced Sweden – and its closest military partner, Finland – to publicly choose a side after remaining outside the military alliance since it was founded in 1949 to fight the Soviet Union in the Cold War.
Stockholm is expected to follow Helsinki’s example and can apply for NATO membership, made up of 30 countries, as early as Monday (16).
“Sweden’s membership of NATO would raise the threshold for military conflict and therefore have a conflict-prevention effect in northern Europe,” Linde told reporters as he presented the findings of an all-party security review that examined the pros and cons of NATO membership for Sweden.
“The most important consequence of Sweden’s NATO membership would be that Sweden would be part of NATO’s collective security and included in the security guarantees under Article 5.”
Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty says that an attack on any NATO country must be seen as an attack on all.
Although Sweden and Finland have long had close relations with NATO and regularly participate in exercises and its high-level meetings, they are not covered by its security guarantee.
The government said the report did not constitute a recommendation to join NATO.
The Left and the Greens were the only parties that did not support the report’s findings.
A request would have to be approved by all NATO countries and later by Sweden’s parliament.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday that it is not possible for NATO member Turkey to support Sweden and Finland’s plans to join the pact, saying the two countries are “home to many terrorist organizations”. ”.
The Finnish and Swedish foreign ministries did not immediately comment on Erdogan’s statement.
From the Arctic to the Black Sea
Finnish and Swedish membership of NATO would redraw the geopolitical map of northern Europe and create a virtually unbroken swath of member states facing Russia from the Arctic to the Black Sea.
On Thursday, Finland’s president and prime minister said the country – which shares a 1,300km border and a difficult past with Russia – must apply to join NATO’s military alliance “without delay”.
Russia said Finland’s offer was a hostile move that poses a threat to its security.
Moscow said in April it could deploy 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 defense alliance.
“If Sweden chooses to become a member of NATO, there is a risk of a reaction from Russia,” Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist said. “Let me say that, in this case, we are prepared to deal with any counter-response.”
Hultqvist said Sweden also needs guarantees from allies to cover the period between its application for NATO membership and its ratification by existing members.
“Among other things, increased military exercises with international partners, both on Swedish territory and nearby, could contribute to increasing the threshold (against an attack),” he said.
Sweden and Finland have received pledges of support from NATO members, including the United Kingdom, Germany and the United States.
On Sunday, Sweden’s ruling Social Democrats are expected to end decades of opposition and formally approve NATO membership. Parliament will then debate security issues on Monday.
Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson is expected to convene a special cabinet meeting immediately after the debate with a request sent to NATO headquarters by the end of the day, the daily Expressen reported, citing unnamed sources.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday that Finland would be “warmly welcome” and promised a “smooth and quick” accession process, while the US government said it would support an offer to join NATO. Finland and Sweden.
Source: CNN Brasil
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