Sweden's Social Democratic Party to join NATO

Sweden s governing Social Democratic Party announced on Sunday that it would vote in favor of joining NATO, but assured that the Nordic nation would end 200 years of neutrality and seek membership in the powerful Western military alliance.

Since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Social Democratic Party, Sweden's largest party and head of a minority coalition, has supported Swedish neutrality and favored Swedish military non-alignment even after Stockholm joined the European Union.

Russia s invasion of Ukraine has shifted public opinion significantly, in part due to the fact that neighboring Finland, long a strategic partner of Sweden, has also moved swiftly to drop nonalignment and favor joining NATO.

Both countries have been shaken by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and have judged that close cooperation with NATO did not include the guarantee of collective security that the alliance provides, despite the fact that close cooperation with NATO did not include the guarantee of collective security that was given by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.