“Finally, this is what we’ve been waiting for”

In several of our closest neighboring countries – which are now receiving a substantial reinforcement around the Baltic Sea – there was great joy when Sweden now becomes NATO’s 32nd member state. Especially in Finland, since the neighbor to the east and Sweden have cooperated in defense matters for decades.

Many Finnish ministers expressed their relief in the Riksdag to MTV3 reporter Antonia Berg:

– Sweden is such an important cooperation partner when it comes to the defense of Finland, says a minister.

– Now we finally get to start cooperating in depth, and Finland’s back is much safer and we are now much stronger in the Nordics with Sweden’s membership, says another to Antonia Berg.

Will toast Sweden

Finland submitted its NATO application at the same time as Sweden, just under two years ago. The idea was that the two countries would join the defense alliance arm in arm, but that did not happen. Turkey and Hungary put cogs in Sweden’s wheel, and at the beginning of April last year, Finland alone took the step into NATO.

Now, however, Sweden is in the boat, and when the defense ministers of Finland, Sweden and Norway meet on Saturday, there will be a bit of celebration.

– Then they will probably raise a small toast and play a fanfare for Sweden, says Antonia Berg.

The Baltic Sea will now become a NATO sea

Now that both Finland and Sweden become members, pretty much the entire Baltic Sea will be bordered by NATO allies. And in one of NATO’s countries of origin, Denmark, they welcome their Swedish neighbour:

– Sweden is very important for our security here in Denmark, says, for example, Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Fredriksen, according to Jakob Tage Ramlyng, journalist at TV2 in Denmark and adds:

– Everyone here is very happy, it is a good neighbor who is joining us now in NATO.

Annoyed in Norway that it took so long

In Norway, support among the population for NATO is compact, 96 percent of Norwegians support the country’s membership in the defense alliance, and they have long looked forward to bringing their nearest neighbor along.

Sweden has had great support in the process from NATO’s Secretary General, Norwegian Jens Stoltenberg. And in his home country there were happy faces today, reports Lars Joakim Skarvøy, reporter at TV2 in Norway:

– The reactions here have been very expectant for Sweden to join NATO. The fact that it took such a long time has really annoyed the Norwegian authorities, he says to Efter fem.