Sweden poised to strengthen Nato’s northern defences
Membership of alliance marks historic shift for non-aligned country, precipitated by Russia’s war against Ukraine. Swedish membership will help Nato bolster its defence of the entire Nordic and Baltic regions and reinforce its presence in the Arctic. Its forces, logistics, airspace and maritime areas can now be fully integrated into Nato operational planning.
“Anna Wieslander, director for northern Europe, said Sweden would need to develop a ‘strategic culture’ among its top commanders and political decision makers. As a non-aligned country, albeit one active in multilateral institutions such as the EU and UN, it had the ability to hold back and sit on the fence. ‘Moving from national defence planning to a more collective defence planning process is a quite a big shift both practically and mentally,’ she said. ‘The expectations will be that Sweden will be an active member of Nato but that will be quite a challenge.’”
Further reading
Wed, Apr 26, 2023
A glimpse of Sweden in NATO: Gotland could be a game-changer for Baltic defense
New Atlanticist By
Sweden's largest military exercise in twenty-five years highlights the strategically important island of Gotland in defending NATO allies.
Fri, Jan 6, 2023
How allied Sweden and Finland can secure Northern Europe
Issue Brief By
NATO is approaching its ninth round of enlargement. The accession of Sweden and Finland—two solid democracies and defenders of the international-rules based order—into the Alliance will strengthen the core of the transatlantic community.
Fri, Jul 7, 2023
Will eleventh-hour diplomacy get Sweden into NATO by the Vilnius summit?
New Atlanticist By
At stake in Vilnius is not only the security of Sweden and the Alliance as a whole, but NATO’s open-door credibility.