Sweden will join Finland in seeking Nato membership following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, it has been announced. It ends more than 200 years of military non-alignment in the Nordic country.
"We will inform Nato that we want to become a member of the alliance," Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said. The announcement came after a Swedish parliamentary debate today (May 16) showed there was huge support for joining Nato.
Out of Sweden's eight parties, just two smaller left-leaning parties opposed it. Yesterday (May 15), the Swedish Social Democrats broke with the party's long-standing position that Sweden must remain non-aligned, paving the way for a clear majority for Nato membership in the parliament.
The move in Sweden came after neighbouring Finland announced that it would would seek to join the 30-country alliance. Public opinion in both countries was firmly against joining Nato before the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, but support for Nato membership surged quickly after the war.
Nato - the North Atlantic Treaty Organization - was created in 1949 in part to provide collective security against the Soviet Union. There are currently 30 member states of Nato, including the UK, USA and France.
Russia's President Vladimir Putin has mentioned Ukraine's intention to join the alliance as one of the reasons for the invasion of its neighbour.
