In an interview with TT newswire, Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that he hopes normal Swedes notice Sweden’s membership of Nato “as little as possible”.

That will most likely be the case, but there are a few small changes we might start to notice.

Greater presence of foreign military – especially US soldiers

There will be more foreign units training in Sweden and more foreign ships and aircraft in Swedish territory.

There will also be more US soldiers and marines at 17 Swedish bases due to an extended defence agreement signed between the two countries late last year – although admittedly, this is only indirectly linked to Sweden’s Nato membership

Visible Nato flags

Nato flags may be raised at some of the Armed Forces’ sites. The Liberals have also been calling for a Nato flag to be raised in parliament. Maybe we’ll start to hear the Nato hymn in Sweden?

More investment in infrastructure

There could be more investments in Swedish infrastructure. Article 3 of the Nato treaty commits countries to “strengthening the resilience of society,” including measures like securing energy supply, upgrading roads and railways and making sure there are emergency beds available in hospitals.

Kristersson has not ruled out that major investments may be necessarily, which means that new jobs and new building works may pop up across the country as these upgrades are carried out.

Conscription may change

Sweden’s conscripts are likely to be involved in Nato exercises in Sweden, although it has not yet been decided whether fully trained conscripts will be eligible for active duty abroad.

A change to Sweden’s image of itself

Joining Nato means a formal end to centuries of Swedish non-alignment, despite the fact that the country had already begun to integrate its defence policy with Nato before formally joining. Will that change how Swedes consider themselves and their country in the future?