The Local
May 17, 2022

Swedish foreign minister signs Nato application

Sweden’s foreign minister, Ann Linde, signed the country’s application to join the Nato security alliance on Tuesday, with the document to be submitted together with those of Finland to Nato’s headquarters in Brussels later this week.

“It feels momentous, fateful, and that we have ended up doing what I believe is best for Sweden,” Linde said as she signed the document in front of photographers in the offices of Sweden’s foreign ministry.

It has yet to be confirmed when Sweden’s ambassador to Nato, Axel Wernhoff, will pass the document to the alliance’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at its headquarters in Brussels.

Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö is currently on a state visit to Sweden, and will make a speech to the parliament at midday titled, “a responsible, strong and stable Nordic region”, before meeting Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson at Adelcrantzska huset.

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When all countries have accepted the application, and the country’s joining Nato have voted the protocol through their parliaments and signed it, the country becomes a Nato member state.