Sweden was a neutral and non-aligned nation for more than 200 years, Finland for eight decades. Now it is over. “We are leaving one era and going into another,” said Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson in Stockholm on Monday after the Swedish parliament had concluded its NATO debate. Andersson noted a “broad majority” in parliament for NATO accession and announced her government’s official decision to submit an application. They want to do this together with Finland.
Monday’s parliamentary debates were the last institutional step in both countries before applying for membership. Approval was considered certain in advance. Since the Finnish parliamentary debate was not over on Monday, observers are expecting the joint motion to come out either on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Europe and Sweden now live “in a new and dangerous reality,” Magdalena Andersson had previously said in the Swedish parliament. “In this reality, Sweden needs the security guarantees that come with NATO membership.” Sweden will be “vulnerable” if it remains the only Nordic country outside of NATO. At the same time, in a concession to the NATO critics, Andersson declared that she did not want to see NATO “nuclear weapons” stationed on Swedish soil.
Opposition leader Ulf Kristersson of the bourgeois moderates, who have long been campaigning for NATO membership, expressed his respect for the change of heart by the long-time NATO-skeptical prime minister and her Social Democrats and said his party was “glad to finally be able to join NATO”. Only the Swedish Greens and the left spoke out against joining NATO. Left leader Nooshi Dadgostar spoke of a “betrayal of voters”. The government pushed through the process without any real debate, it would have been better to wait for the September elections and only then make a decision.
The Finnish parliament had planned more time for the debate, where a vote is not expected until the morning hours of Tuesday. In Helsinki, too, the vote is considered a mere formality. According to the last count by the Finnish media, more than 80 percent of parliamentarians had spoken out in favor of joining NATO. “Our security order has changed fundamentally,” said Prime Minister Sanna Marin at the beginning of the meeting on Monday. “The only country that is threatening Europe’s security today and is waging a war of aggression is Russia.”
Sweden’s Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist said on SVT on Wednesday that he had received signals from several NATO countries that Finland and Sweden should be admitted quickly. He also doesn’t believe that Turkey really wants to block Sweden’s admission in the end.