Security in accession process: NATO assures Sweden of high presence in the Baltic Sea

Security in the Accession Process
NATO assures Sweden of high presence in the Baltic Sea

5/5/2022, 7:02 pm

Sweden and Finland are very likely to ask to join NATO. But it may take some time before the final commit happens. For the time being, Stockholm is looking for security guarantees – and gets the first commitment.

NATO has promised Sweden to increase its security presence in the region during the transition period to eventual membership. “I am confident that we will find a solution to Sweden’s security needs in the transitional period,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told SVT. From the moment the application is submitted, the military alliance has an obligation to be able to guarantee Swedish security. Among other things, NATO should increase its presence in Sweden as well as in the Baltic Sea.

According to Sweden, it has received some security assurances from the United States in the event of an accession process. Foreign Minister Ann Linde said after the meeting with Swedish TV, “That would mean that Russia could be aware of any negative activity against Sweden, which it threatened to do, the US would not allow… without reaction.” American counterpart Antony Blinken. “While there are no solid security guarantees, you can only get them as a full member of NATO.” He declined to provide further details.

Sweden and Finland are not yet part of a military alliance. However, following the Russian annexation of Crimea and incursion into Ukraine in 2014, a reconsolidation has begun, and the two states are expected to join. They have sought security guarantees for the transition phase, which could last up to a year. The ratification of the expansion of the military alliance could take up to a year, as the parliaments of the current 30 member states have to agree.

The government in Moscow has warned Sweden and Finland of “serious consequences” if they join NATO and threatened to deploy nuclear weapons and hypersonic missiles to the Kaliningrad exclave.