After the approval of the Government and the President of Finland to the entry of NATO, the Swedish Social Democratic Party, which heads a minority Government alone, announced this Sunday at the end of an extraordinary meeting of its leadership that it will support the entry of the Nordic country .
The turn of the Social Democrats, who six months ago had approved in their last congress to maintain their traditional position in favor of non-alignment, was expected and gives a clear parliamentary majority to those in favor of joining the Alliance.
“The Social Democratic leadership has decided at its meeting on May 15 that the party will work for Sweden to request its entry into NATO,” it states in a statement, which highlights its “unilateral reservation” against the deployment of nuclear weapons and permanent bases on Swedish territory.
With neighboring Finland ready to submit its application, Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson is now almost certain to launch a formal application within days.
NATO, for its part, is willing to deploy troops near Finland and Sweden while the 30 members of the alliance ratify their accession. Waiting for the entry request to be formalized, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg proposed this Sunday to “reinforce the military presence” of the alliance in the Baltic to reassure the Scandinavian countries.
The mutual protection clause, under which members promise to defend allies in case of attack, only applies when a country is a full member of NATO, so Finland and Sweden are concerned about the period between the application for entry and ratification. Stoltenberg has also wanted to calm them down by ironing out Turkey’s reticence about the new additions.
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