Facts: NATO and the EU
21 countries in Europe are members of both the EU and NATO: Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Estonia, France, Greece, Italy, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, the Czech Republic, Germany and Hungary.
Six EU countries are not members of NATO: Cyprus, Finland, Ireland, Malta, Sweden and Austria.
Nine NATO countries are not members of the EU: Albania, Iceland, Canada, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Norway, the United Kingdom, Turkey and the United States.
After the NATO summit in Madrid, Sweden’s path into the alliance looks open again.
The Armed Forces’ planning for NATO membership has been going on for some time. On 22 June, the government was formally commissioned to analyze how defense can be designed in relation to NATO. The report must be ready on 1 November.
Important considerations will be made in it.
– We need to look at our role in NATO’s defense planning, what we can contribute and what membership means for the defense of Sweden and our immediate area, says Major General Thomas Nilsson, who is responsible for the Armed Forces’ planning for NATO membership.
The report will be an important basis when the government and the Riksdag make decisions on how the growing Swedish defense should be designed.
– It will be about political decisions and political will, Nilsson says.
National matter
Even in NATO, Sweden will have the main responsibility for its own defense.
– This can be seen in section 3 of the Washington Treaty. It talks about that defense capability is basically a national matter, Nilsson says.
But the idea is that NATO should coordinate the member states’ military resources so that they can also defend each other. This is done through joint planning of what military resources are needed, joint operational planning for war, a joint command structure and joint exercises.
One question that Sweden must consider is how much of Sweden’s defense will be made available to NATO.
Attractive for NATO
Swedish naval forces, ships and submarines, are expected by NATO to be seen as important contributions to the alliance’s collective defense.
– Many highlight it as a unique competence and ability we have linked to the Baltic Sea, says Nilsson.
Swedish combat aviation is also particularly attractive to NATO.
The Home Guard, on the other hand, is part of the Swedish defense that may be kept outside NATO. Other member states have chosen to do so.
– You can definitely do that. We will make such considerations, says Nilsson.
He does not believe that NATO’s operational planning would be facilitated by placing the Swedish Home Guard under NATO command.
– The Home Guard is strongly linked to the defense of Swedish territory, Nilsson says.
Join a battle group?
At the NATO summit in Madrid, the member states agreed that from next year they will have more soldiers in place along the border with Russia.
The multinational battle groups that exist in the Baltics, Poland and Romania, among others, will be expanded from today’s approximately one thousand soldiers to brigade size, ie 3,000-5,000 soldiers.
It may be relevant for Sweden to participate in those battle groups.
– When they increase in volume and we are allies, it becomes natural for us to look at what we could contribute, Nilsson says.
Denmark and Norway participate today with troops in such battle groups.
Major General Thomas Nilsson. Forces ready
NATO has also decided that the member states will have a total of over 300,000 soldiers ready to send as reinforcements to allies who are exposed to threats or attacks.
They must be based in their home countries, but be able to be deployed in another NATO country within a month. The reinforcement forces must have prepared in advance to assist in the defense of a particular country.
For the Swedish part, it could be relevant to keep reinforcement forces on standby to come to Finland’s rescue.
– You can imagine that. As far as Finland is concerned, we already have joint planning. With Finland, we have gone further than we did with any other country, says Nilsson.
– In Finland we practice and prepare.
Nilsson also points out that the Riksdag has already decided on a law that has created the conditions for being able to provide support to Finland quickly.
Patrol the airspace
In peacetime, it may also be relevant for Sweden to be responsible within NATO for air patrols over the Baltics and sea patrols in the Baltic Sea.
– Yes, absolutely, we will of course look at that, says Nilsson.
– Based on our geography, what capabilities we have, in the air force and navy, it is quite natural that we need to look at whether we can contribute with those parts.
That Sweden places units under NATO command is nothing new. This has been done, for example, in Afghanistan. Sweden is currently making units available for NATO’s current rapid reaction force.
The Armed Forces will also need to send officers to NATO’s various staffs and military headquarters. Today there are 20 Swedes. Nilsson reckons that they must be significantly more. Norway and Denmark have about 150 compatriots each in NATO’s military structures.
– Of course, we will not be able to solve that in one night. It will take a couple of years.
Thomas Nilsson describes the NATO adaptation as the beginning of a mental journey for the Armed Forces.
– We will not become part of NATO, we will de facto become NATO, he says.