UPDATED: What happens next for Sweden’s Nato application?

Hungary on Monday ratified Sweden's Nato application, and now only a few steps remain before the country can become a full member of the defence alliance.

Published: 23 January 2024 21:06 CET
Updated: 27 February 2024 06:00 CET

UPDATED: What happens next for Sweden's Nato application?

Nato and Sweden flags side by side at the Swedish prime minister's country residence, Harpsund, in 2022. Photo: Henrik Montgomery/TT

Hungary’s parliament on February 26th voted through Sweden’s Nato application, clearing the final hurdle before the Nordic country can join the military alliance.

With 188 votes in favour and six against, Hungary became the final country to approve Sweden’s Nato application.

Now that the parliament has approved Sweden’s membership, the final decision needs to be made by Hungary’s interim president, currently László Kövér, who has five days to sign the approval and then send it to the US state department in Washington.

All that then remains is for Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg to invite Sweden to present its accession document to the US.

This is expected to be done by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson at a ceremony in Brussels, with the date still to be confirmed. After that, the flag of Sweden will be hoisted at the Nato headquarters, and the country will officially be a Nato member.

In the case of Finland, for example, Turkey gave the green light on March 30th, 2023, and Finland became a Nato member on April 4th.

Member comments

Anonymous - 24 January 2024 at 00:34 CET

let’s home it never happens, US has already got enough puppets to fight it’s proxy wars. stay away

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Signed by Stockholm and Washington in December, the deal gives the US access to 17 military bases and training areas in Sweden, and allows the storage of weapons, military equipment and ammunition.

The agreement was approved by a broad majority in parliament following an almost five-hour debate, with 266 MPs voting in favour and 37 against, while 46 were absent.

The main opponents, the Left and Green parties, had argued that the agreement ought to state outright that the Scandinavian country would not allow nuclear weapons on its territory.

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“We want to see legislation that bans nuclear weapons from being brought onto Swedish soil,” Green Party MP Emma Berginger told parliament during Tuesday’s debate.

“Unfortunately, the government has chosen to sign an agreement that doesn’t close the door to nuclear weapons, and therefore the Green Party is going to vote no to this agreement,” she told said during the debate.

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Greens leader Daniel Helldén had argued on Monday that the agreement made Sweden “a target for nuclear weapons” since “we’re going to have 17 bases where the Americans can store (military) materiel”.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson’s centre-right minority government, propped up by the far-right Sweden Democrats, has said the deal respects Swedish sovereignty.

“It is very clear that Sweden is a sovereign nation, and there is no other country that can force Sweden to have nuclear weapons on Swedish soil,” Defence Minister Pål Jonson insisted.

‘Naive’

The Left and Green parties, which also voted against Sweden’s Nato membership, together hold just 42 seats in parliament, which was not enough to block the agreement’s adoption on their own.

The Swedish Peace and Arbitration Association, one of the biggest critics of the move, said two successive Swedish governments insisted during the Nato application process that Sweden would have the same stance on nuclear weapons as neighbouring Denmark and Norway.

“But unlike Norway’s and Denmark’s DCA agreements, there is no clause in Sweden’s agreement against nuclear weapons being brought into or placed in Sweden,” the association’s head Kerstin Bergeå wrote in an op-ed.

In addition, Finland, which joined Nato in April 2023, “has a national law prohibiting nuclear weapons on Finnish territory and Finland’s DCA agreement refers to this law”.

A similar Swedish clause would “strengthen the Nordic region and contribute to a joint de-escalation vis-a-vis Russian nuclear weapons”, Bergeå said.

Nukes in wartime?

Sweden’s prime minister made headlines last month when he opened the door for the possibility of nuclear weapons in the country during wartime.

“In a war situation it’s a completely different matter, (it) would depend entirely on what would happen,” Kristersson told public radio broadcaster SR.

Two Left Party MPs said in an op-ed on Sunday: “That’s an incredible statement and is totally the opposite of what the Swedish people think and what Sweden has long stood for.”

Bergeå questioned whether Sweden would be able to put a brake on the United States.

“An agreement based solely on confidence is not enough in important matters such as these,” she said.

Jonson, the defence minister, has said Sweden needed to strengthen its international cooperation “to defend our freedom and democracy”.

“With the DCA, Sweden can receive early, swift and effective military support from the United States in a deteriorating security situation,” he said last month.

“The agreement acts as a deterrent and is stabilising. It reduces the risk of war breaking out and makes Sweden safer,” Jonson said.