Sweden Signing NATO’s Application Form

Following Monday’s announcement to proceed with the move, Sweden has officially signed her country’s application to join NATO.

On Tuesday, Ann Linde, Sweden’s foreign minister said, “It feels very big, very serious, and it feels like we have arrived at a conclusion which is the best for Sweden. We don’t know how long it will take, but we calculate that it could take up to a year. Now, this week, this application will be submitted, together with Finland, in a day or so, and then it will be processed by NATO.”

The announcement comes just two days after Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö and Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced the country’s decision to join the alliance as well.

Both countries are likely to submit their formal petitions to NATO headquarters in Brussels later this week, putting an end to decades of official neutrality on both sides.

All 30 current NATO member nations must accept Finland and Sweden’s application through a variety of domestic processes, including legislative votes or executive decisions, depending on the country.

Hours before Sweden’s foreign minister formally signed her country’s application to NATO, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that he has ‘no problem’ with Finland and Sweden joining the security group.

Putin has stated numerous times that NATO’s post-Soviet extension toward Russia’s frontiers is a driving force behind his war in Ukraine.

He said, “As to enlargement, Russia has no problem with these states – none. And so in this sense there is no immediate threat to Russia from an expansion (of NATO) to include these countries.”

Finland is also set to submit a formal NATO application in the coming days.