Sweden has officially announced that it will apply to join NATO

LAST UPDATE: 17.29

Sweden’s minority government today formally decided to apply for NATO membership, following a similar move by neighboring Finland, a move that will redraw the geopolitical map of northern Europe.

The announcement was made by Prime Minister Magdalena Anderson, speaking of a “new era” for the Scandinavian country.

“The government has decided to inform NATO of Sweden’s intention to join the Alliance. We are leaving a time to enter a new one,” he told a news conference after a parliamentary session to discuss the country’s security policy.

Stockholm plans to submit its request “today, tomorrow or Wednesday”, synchronized with Finland.

“There is a broad consensus in the Swedish parliament on NATO membership. The best thing for Sweden and the Swedish people is to join NATO,” Anderson said, noting that she “does not see” any military threat to the country. dot.

“We expect that the accession process will not take more than a year”, after being ratified by all 30 members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, he added.

Scandinavian countries give “security guarantees” to Sweden and Finland until NATO membership

Norway, Denmark and Iceland have issued a joint statement stressing that they are ready to support Finland and Sweden, the two countries wishing to join NATO, in the event of an attack.

“Together with Denmark and Iceland, Norway is ready to assist its Scandinavian neighbors with all necessary means if they are attacked on their territory before joining NATO,” said Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gar Stere.

The same assurance was given by the Prime Minister of Denmark Mete Frederiksen saying that if the two countries are attacked “we will help Finland and Sweden with all the necessary means”. “We are immediately starting preparations to implement these security guarantees,” he added.

Only NATO members, not the candidate countries, can benefit from the “protection umbrella” of the Pact, which has prompted Stockholm and Helsinki to seek security guarantees from many countries. Norway, Denmark and Iceland are all three members of NATO.

In addition, the President of France Emanuel Macron expressed his full support for Sweden’s decision to join NATO, as announced by the Elysee Palace. The French president had also welcomed a similar statement made by Finland on 12 May on the same subject.

The barriers

An obstacle has already emerged before the demands even reach NATO headquarters in Brussels.

Turkey has surprised its NATO allies by saying it does not view the demands of Finland and Sweden, citing their history of hosting members of Kurdish militant groups.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has called the Nordic countries “hostels of terrorist organizations”.

Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist said on Monday that Sweden would start diplomatic talks with Turkey to try to overcome Ankara’s objections to its plan to join NATO.

“We will send a team of diplomats to discuss and have a dialogue with Turkey to see how this issue can be resolved and who it really is,” Hultqvist told public broadcaster SVT.

Turkey has said it wanted the Nordic countries to stop supporting Kurdish fighters on their territory and lift bans on the sale of certain weapons to Turkey.

Turkish state media have reported separately that Sweden and Finland have rejected requests for the repatriation of 33 people whom Turkey claims have links to groups it considers terrorists.

NATO and the United States, for their part, have said they are confident that Turkey will not block the accession of Finland and Sweden.

Any decision on NATO enlargement requires the approval of all 30 members of the alliance and their parliaments. Diplomats say Erdogan will be pressured to step down, as Finland and Sweden will significantly strengthen NATO in the Baltic Sea.

“I am confident that we will be able to address the concerns expressed by Turkey in a way that will not delay accession,” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday.