Nato's membership is set to grow further
Sweden is set to join Nato this summer, in what would be another blow to Vladimir Putin and Russia.
Countries such as Sweden have previously been reluctant to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, preferring to remain largely neutral on the international stage.
But Putin's invasion of Russia has prompted Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and other party leaders to decide that their goal is for the country to "join Nato in June this year,"
SVD reports.
It was
recently reported that Finland were set to join the alliance, with Sweden undertaking a review of its security.
https://twitter.com/JeremyCliffe/status/1514177216522993684
Russia has
previously threatened Sweden and Finland with "military consequences" if either joins NATO.
Currently, Sweden and Finland are in a select group of nations that are members of the European Union but not Nato. The others are Austria, Cyprus, Ireland and Malta.
But as the two closest nations to Russia in the Arctic Circle, Sweden and Finland clearly feel more threatened by Russia after the country's invasion of Ukraine.
https://twitter.com/shashj/status/1514181898456555531
It was Ukraine's desire to join the alliance that prompted Putin to invade the country, with the Russian leader framing the invasion as an act of self-defence against the alliance's expansion.
Two nearby countries choosing to join Nato because of his invasion is therefore a huge blow to Putin.
Public opinion in Finland has shifted significantly in favour of joining Nato, with the country's prime minister saying that Russia is "not the neighbour we thought it was."
If Sweden and Finland were to both join the western alliance, it would take Nato's membership to 32 nations.
Nato has made it clear that both would be welcome to join the organisation.
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