Sweden formally applied to join NATO, reports say
- Sweden has formally applied to join NATO, according to reports.
- TV reports showed footage of the foreign minister signing what it said was the application to the military alliance.
Sweden on Tuesday formally applied to join NATO, the country's SVT and TV4 news channels reported.
Both outlets published footage of Foreign Minister Ann Linde signing what they said was the application to the military alliance. Sweden's application is to be submitted alongside Finland's, SVT reported.
The countries announced their intention to join NATO and bolster their defenses after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Finland shares a long border with Russia, while Sweden neighbors Finland.
The plan to join NATO marks an end to the countries' traditional neutrality in the face of Russian President Vladimir Putin's war.
Russia has repeatedly threatened consequences against Finland and Sweden if they joined NATO. Putin has partly justified his invasion by saying he was reacting in response to the potential eastern expansion of NATO.
But it was his invasion of Ukraine that prompted political and public support for joining NATO to grow in Sweden and Finland.
Earlier this week Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the president of Turkey — which is a NATO member — accused Finland and Sweden of harboring terrorists, and suggested that he would block their applications to the alliance unless he got some concessions. A new country cannot join NATO unless its existing members all unanimously agree to it.
Putin on Monday said that he had "no problems" with the two countries joining NATO, saying that the bloc's expanding to include these countries "does not pose a direct threat to Russia."
But this contrasts with the repeated comments made by his officials, who said that Russia may retaliate.
Putin did say on Monday, however, that Russia would have to take action if NATO moved weapons into Sweden and Finland.
Finland's prime minister, Magdalena Andersson, on Monday warned that her country would be in a "vulnerable position" during its application period.
"Russia has said that that it will take countermeasures if we join NATO," she said, according to ITV News. "We cannot rule out that Sweden will be exposed to, for instance, disinformation and attempts to intimidate and divide us."