On Monday, the blue-yellow flag was raised at NATO headquarters in Brussels. On site were, among others, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
The process has been tricky and received a lot of media attention. In the spring of 2022, the government announced that it is applying for membership.
But the discussions between Stoltenberg and Sweden’s leaders began already in 2018, says Jens Stoltenberg now.
– I met Ulf Kristersson at the People and Defense Conference before he became prime minister, then we had a discussion about NATO. I also discussed it very thoroughly with Magdalena Andersson, says Jens Stoltenberg.
He continues:
– When we then saw the full-scale invasion of Russia in Ukraine, those talks led to Sweden applying and since then I have worked hard to get everything in place.
The breakthrough in Madrid 2022
Jens Stoltenberg says that he has pushed for Sweden to join the alliance. A breakthrough came in the summer of 2022 in Madrid.
– Then all countries agreed, including Turkey and Hungary, to invite Sweden to become a full member. And so Sweden got a new position. Then Sweden participated in negotiations and became more or less integrated into NATO.
After that, it took almost two years until all the pieces were in place.
– It took a little longer than we had hoped, but it is still the case that from Sweden applying to becoming a member, less than two years have passed. It goes quickly when you look at other membership processes for other countries that are members of NATO.
Russia’s threat
Russia has been less satisfied with Sweden’s entry into the defense alliance. Several threats have come from Putin against NATO countries.
– We have not seen concrete documents. What we do know is that there is a permanent danger of Russian cyberattacks and a Russian hybrid threat against Sweden. But it also applies to all other NATO countries and it also applies to countries outside NATO. So that my assessment is that Sweden is significantly safer within NATO than outside NATO, says Jens Stoltenberg.