(NewsWorthy.news) – Sweden officially joined NATO on March 7, becoming its 32nd member. The move marks another blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin after the Kremlin used NATO expansion to justify the invasion of Ukraine. In response to the invasion of Ukraine, both Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO in May 2022. Finland officially joined NATO in April 2023. Sweden’s move marked an end to decades of neutrality that had seen the Nordic countries act as neutral buffer states between Russia and NATO. Sweden, Finland and Norway have recently had 20,000 troops from 13 NATO countries conducting training exercises in their Northern regions.
NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg made it clear in his testimony to the European Union Parliament in 2023 that NATO had rejected Russian demands in 2021 that it cease to expand its borders. He stated that due to the invasion of Ukraine, the Kremlin got the “exact opposite” in response. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson vowed in a statement on X to strive for unity and adhere to the values of the Washington Treaty.
The move was delayed by objections from Turkey and Hungary and has sparked a backlash among Sweden’s peace movement, particularly Anna Sundström, the secretary general of Stockholm’s Olof Palme International Centre, a social justice and democracy organization. Sundström criticized the lack of debate since the invasion of Ukraine and claimed that they were branded “Putinist” and “naive” for discussing the idea of peace between Russia and the West. She called Kristersson’s rhetoric “reckless”, suggesting that claims the country is on the brink of war are exaggerated and that preparedness amounts to more than just military equipment. Sundström noted the government’s decision to abolish a fund that had supported peace organizations in December 2023 for the first time since the 1920s, calling it a worrying sign that the government wanted to suppress pacifist talking points. Sweden’s move to join NATO has ended a 200-year policy of military non-alignment.
After receiving the final documentation from Kristersson, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken suggested that Sweden had realized that Putin might not stop at Ukraine and could attack countries further afield in Europe. Kristersson has dismissed more pacifistic stances and argued that there is nothing to be neutral about anymore regarding Russia. The Kremlin has branded Sweden’s move as “aggressive” and said it will take unspecified counter-measures.
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