Sweden officially joins NATO, ends 200 years of military non-alignment
Sweden on Thursday (7 March) became NATO’s 32nd member after Prime Minister Kristersson handed over the accession documents to the US State Department, ending more than two centuries of military non-alignment.
Nearly two years after starting its membership bid, Sweden officially joined NATO as its 32nd member when Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson handed over his country’s accession documents to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken in Washington.
Thursday’s official accession comes after Hungary officially handed over its approval documents for Sweden to join NATO in Washington earlier the same day.
Hungary, the final NATO member to green-light the accession, only agreed earlier this week. Budapest had been holding back its decision, as it viewed Stockholm taking its NATO accession for granted, objecting to the allegations of EU rule of law violations levelled at the Orban government.
“Sweden is leaving 200 years of neutrality and military non-alignment behind,” Kristersson told reporters last week after the Hungarian Parliament voted in favour of its NATO bid.
The last time the country officially declared war was during the Swedish-Norwegian War of 1814. However, Sweden has taken part in military engagements, but these haven’t been formally declared wars, and Stockholm remained neutral during the Second World War.
“Finally”, Swedish Defence Force Micael Bydén said on Thursday, adding that his country will be ready “from the first minute” since it has been preparing for this moment for almost two years.
Sweden’s flag is expected to be raised at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Monday (11 March).
Force integration
Sweden now begins the process of being absorbed into NATO’s structures including the alliance’s defence and deterrence plans, integrating the country can take years.
The most immediate change to the Swedish Armed Forces will be more comprehensive access to intelligence information.
“Now the tap is opened for the information that we could not get, before becoming a NATO member,” Bydén said.
According to him, the Finnish Armed Forces have been advising their Swedish counterparts ahead of Stockholm’s NATO accession to prepare for an intensive post-accession period.
Sweden’s air and naval forces will be integrated into NATO command structures, such as airborne incident response and maritime surveillance of the Baltic Sea.
With its rich naval heritage, the new member brings to the table; a navy well calibrated for the Baltic Sea, an air force equipped with locally developed Saab Gripen fighters, and a ‘home-grown’ defence industry.
“We will continue to do a lot of what we did, but we will do it under the umbrella of NATO membership,” Bydén said.
Another major change will be the involvement in NATO’s defence planning, with the staffing of NATO’s headquarters with around 250 officers.
This may be a challenge, according to Bydén, but Sweden will have five or six years to do so effectively and replace the staff sent to NATO headquarters in the Swedish Defence Force.
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