The Swedish government has decided that Sweden will become a member of NATO, said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy, Business and Industry of Sweden Ebba Bush at a press conference on Thursday, UNN reports with reference to Dagens Nyheter.
Details
"A new chapter in the history of the Kingdom of Sweden is now beginning," she said.
Bush called joining NATO an important milestone for Sweden.
"We belong to the free democracies of the West. And complex problems are best solved together. Sweden makes NATO stronger, and NATO makes Sweden safer," Bush continued.
The press conference is also attended by Swedish Minister of Labor Market and Integration Johan Persson and Minister of Defense Paul Johnson. Persson called what is happening a new era of Swedish security policy.
"Personally, I have been waiting for this for 20 years," - he said.
Paul Johnson says Sweden is well prepared.
"As a member of NATO, we are subject to NATO defense guarantees and are included in NATO's joint defense planning," he said.
Recall
Shortly afterward, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will submit Sweden's NATO accession documents to the U.S. government.
Sweden will immediately become the 32nd member of NATO as soon as it deposits the official documentation.
Earlier, on March 7, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson notedthat NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg informed him that all NATO member states had adopted the accession protocol and invited Sweden to join the North Atlantic Treaty.