Sweden’s official entry into NATO is probably only a few hours away. After a lengthy process, all countries have now approved Sweden as a NATO member, and everything points to Sweden soon becoming NATO’s 32nd member country.
A welcome event, says Sweden’s Commander-in-Chief Micael Bydén.
– You can say “finally” on the part of the Armed Forces. We have been preparing for almost two years and will be ready from the first minute, he says.
Learned from Finland
Bydén says that during the process they were in close contact with Finland and were able to learn lessons from the neighboring country. As soon as Sweden becomes an official member, Sweden will have exactly the same obligations and rights as the other NATO countries.
– The first thing that will happen is that a very large amount of information is opened up to us, which will be very intense after what we heard from Finland.
At the same time, Bydén emphasizes that the Armed Forces will continue to defend the country against armed attacks and focus on solving national problems – the difference is that it will now be done under a NATO umbrella. It will be felt in incident preparedness, where Sweden will help, and be helped by, other countries.
It will take six years before Sweden will be fully manned according to NATO’s expectations, says Micael Bydén. Then it is estimated that approximately 250 Swedes within the Armed Forces will be able to be deployed to NATO structures.