Sweden on Monday officially announced it will apply for NATO membership as a deterrent against Russian aggression, entering a “new era” as it reverses two centuries of military non-alignment.
STOCKHOLM, Sweden — “The government has decided to inform NATO that Sweden wants to become a member of the alliance,” Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson told reporters a day after neighbouring Finland made a similar announcement.
The expansion poses “no direct threat for us… but the expansion of military infrastructure to these territories will certainly provoke our response,” Putin said during a televised summit meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, a Moscow-led military alliance. But Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday again confirmed Ankara’s opposition to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, citing the countries’ unclear stance against terrorism.
A diplomatic source said Turkey blocked a NATO declaration on Monday in favour of Sweden and Finland’s membership and that Erdogan alone took the decision.Sweden’s announcement was expected after Andersson’s Social Democratic party on Sunday backed membership, in a dramatic U-turn after having opposed the idea since the birth of the Western military alliance.
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