Sweden and Finland could join NATO before summer – VG

Posted On: April 12, 2022

WELCOME: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO welcomes Finland and Sweden into the alliance if they wish. Photo: JUSSI NUKARI / AFP

The Finnish government will probably approve the NATO application in a few weeks. The NATO issue is now being reconsidered in Sweden as well.

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Sweden and Finland have started major discussions about possible NATO membership after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Previously, a Finnish newspaper wrote Evening newspaper that the Finnish government will make a decision during May, but they may be able to apply for membership as early as April.

Pekka Foreign Minister Haavisto has confirmed to the newspaper that a membership application is being prepared.

On Thursday, the Finnish government will present a new security policy report. According to Prime Minister Sanna Marin, the government will take a stand on NATO issues once the report is submitted.

– The door to NATO is now open and Finland must reach a decision in the spring, Prime Minister Sanna Marin has previously stated.

Record high support

Finnish news channel MTV news published on Monday the results of a survey on NATO membership conducted in April.

According to the channel, 68 percent of participants believe Finland should apply for NATO membership, the highest endorsement record.

1863 people between the ages of 18 and 64 participated in the survey.

When MTV News conducted the same survey in January, before Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, 30 percent of participants were positive about Finland’s membership in NATO.

However, the Kremlin believes that expanding the NATO alliance will not provide greater security for Europe, Russian media writes RIA Novosti.

– We have repeatedly said that the alliance itself is more of a sharpened tool for confrontation. This is not an alliance that guarantees peace and stability, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday.

REVIEW: The Social Democrats will now open themselves up to discussion of the new security policy. The party stated that the background to the meeting was that the party’s views were based on “reality that no longer exists” Photo: Anders Wiklund / TT

Social Democrats are turning

Sweden’s largest party, the Social Democrats, has so far opposed membership in NATO. Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson has previously warned that NATO membership would “destabilize” the region.

Now, however, Andersson and the Social Democrats are open to changing course.

In a pers conference The party stated that meetings would be held across the country on Swedish and international security policy. The party stated that the background to the meeting was that the party’s views were based on “reality that no longer exists”

– When Russia invaded Ukraine, Sweden’s security policy situation fundamentally changed. This also has consequences for our country’s security policy choices, and our party’s, according to the press release

“No one could have predicted that Russia would attack Ukraine, that we would have an armed war between two countries so close to ours,” said party secretary Tomas Baudin. Aftonbladet.

He said that the process should be carried out as soon as possible, so that it was completed before the summer.

WAR: In the Ukrainian city of Borodjanka, much of the city center is destroyed, after Russia invaded Ukraine. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is the main reason why the two Nordic countries are now reconsidering NATO membership. Photo: Kyrre Lien / VG

Think Sweden will follow Finland

According to Swedish DN A survey shows that if Finland decides to join NATO, the majority of Swedes will want to join the defense alliance.

A Swedish delegation traveled to Finland last week to hold a summit with neighboring countries on possible future NATO membership, NTB wrote.

Finance Minister Mikael Damberg and several Swedish business leaders, among them banker Jacob Wallenberg, met with President Sauli Niinistö and Finnish business leaders in Helsinki, wrote Express. Senior military leaders are also said to have attended the meeting.

According to the newspaper, the purpose of the meeting was to signal that Sweden should follow Finland into NATO if Finland chooses that alternative.

The country’s former prime minister, Alexander Stubb, said Aftonbladet that he thought Sweden would follow Finland to NATO.

– This is no longer a question of ideology, now the question of NATO is more existential and related to our security.

Hans Wallmark, foreign policy spokesman for the Swedish Moderates Party, also believes that Sweden should make the same decisions as Finland.

– The idea of a Finnish membership in which Sweden is outside doesn’t exist, it doesn’t make sense, he said.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has promised a speedy handling of any applications from the two Nordic countries, and said that Sweden and Finland would be accepted into the alliance if they so desired.

– What is said in the NATO capital that Sweden and Finland will be accepted if they apply, is an expression that the advantages are considered to outweigh the disadvantages, Stoltenberg said.