1709026825 By joining NATO Sweden is ending 200 years of military

By joining NATO, Sweden is ending 200 years of military non-alignment

Sweden's accession to NATO, which comes about on Monday following the green light from the Hungarian parliament, will end the Nordic country's 200 years of military non-alignment.

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This membership represents a profound change for Swedish defense, which is now part of a collective, and an important geopolitical development for the region.

Why did Sweden decide to join NATO?

After the end of the Napoleonic Wars in the 19th century, Sweden officially adopted a policy of neutrality.

After the end of the Cold War, this developed into a policy of military non-alignment in order to avoid future conflicts.

Although Sweden is an international peacekeeper, it has not experienced war since the conflict with Norway in 1814.

Despite its neutrality, it has conducted intensive diplomatic activities, advocated for human rights, and has sometimes been referred to as a “humanitarian superpower.”

Although it remained outside NATO, it moved closer to the Atlantic Alliance by joining the Partnership for Peace in 1994 and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council in 1997.

A majority of Swedes have long opposed membership, seen as taboo by the Social Democrats, Sweden's largest party.

Former Social Democratic Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist said again in autumn 2021 that he could “guarantee” that he would never take part in an accession process.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine marked a dramatic shift in parties and opinions, and a clear majority of parliament voted in May 2022 for an application for NATO membership.

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What contribution does Sweden make to NATO?

Sweden long invested heavily in its defense to ensure its neutrality before reducing spending after the end of the Cold War.

Its defense budget began to rise again in 2014 after Russia's annexation of Crimea.

In 1990, that budget was 2.6% of GDP, before falling to 1.2% in 2020, the government said, ensuring NATO's 2% of GDP target will be exceeded again in 2024.

By combining the various military branches, the Swedish army can deploy around 50,000 soldiers, around half of whom are reservists.

In the air, it relies on more than 90 JAS 39 Gripen fighter aircraft from the Swedish manufacturer Saab and has a war fleet in the Baltic Sea that includes several corvettes and submarines.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson also said in January that his country was ready to provide troops for NATO forces in Latvia.

By joining NATO, Sweden is ending 200 years of military non-alignment

AFP

“Sweden is ready to assume its responsibilities with regard to Euro-Atlantic security,” he said on Monday after Hungary’s green light.

Sweden's – and Finland's – membership in NATO also means that the Baltic Sea is now surrounded by member states of the alliance, with some analysts referring to it as a “NATO lake.”

“This is the last piece of the puzzle of the NATO map in northern Europe coming together,” said Robert Dalsjö, an analyst at the Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI).

What impact does this have on Sweden's defense?

Sweden must now place its policy within a collective framework, experts emphasize.

“Sweden has been working on the principle of having to solve the task alone for a long time,” Jan Henningson, also a researcher at the Swedish Defense Research Agency, told AFP.

“We now have to learn to work as a team. And we have to be prepared that we are preparing not only to defend Swedish territory, but also allied territory,” notes Dalsjö.

In a context where Finland or the Baltic countries would be battlefields, Sweden must position itself as a transit country for NATO troops.

Membership also disrupts traditional notions of balance of power in the event of potential conflict.

“Traditionally we thought we were a small state and whoever attacked us was much bigger,” Mr. Henningson notes.

But when it comes to economics and demographics, “NATO is much bigger than Russia,” he adds. “We are no longer David in any way.”

That's an advantage for Stockholm, according to military officials.

“It will be a pretty impressive force with hopefully the combined might of 32 countries, from Turkey in the south to Svalbard in the north,” Swedish army chief Jonny Lindfors told the newspaper Dagens Nyheter in December.