Week 10: Debaters welcome Sweden's entry into NATO

On March 7, 2024, Sweden became a full member of NATO, two years after the application process began following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. NATO entry has dominated the debate and editorial pages for the past week, with a clear majority welcoming membership of the military alliance.

On the occasion of Sweden's entry into NATO, Svenska Dagbladet's podcast The Editorial Board with the words:

- This is a historic step for our country after being outside the democracies' fight against Nazism and the fight against communism during the Cold War. Now Sweden has chosen a side in the face of the attacks that democracies face in our time and in the future. 

Dagens Nyheter's editorial staff are also positive that Sweden, for the first time in 200 years, is now formally part of a military pact.

- Putin's rule will fall. Until it does, it's nice to stand together with good neighbors.

US ambassador to Sweden congratulate Sweden on the membership. He writes that it is not only about Sweden's security needs, but that the US also sees what Sweden can add to the military alliance with its growing defense capacity and geographical location.

- Sweden's historic decision seeking NATO membership in the midst of Russia's war against Ukraine is a strategic and well-timed step given Europe's rapidly changing security landscape, he writes.

Anders Lindberg, Aftonbladet's editor-in-chief, is also convinced that NATO entry is the right way forward for Sweden.

- I am one of those who changed my mind and became in favor of NATO membership after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February two years ago, writes Anders Lindberg.

He emphasizes that Putin made Swedish non-alignment impossible. At the same time, he believes that Sweden will still be Sweden in NATO, with the hope of once again being able to criticize Turkey and Hungary after two years of silence. 

The debate about Sweden's NATO membership is admittedly mainly positive, but there are some voices that are critical and view entry into the military alliance with concern.

- This is a sad day for us. It is deeply regrettable and a historic misprioritization. It contributes to polarization, increased tensions and militarization - when we need the opposite, says Kerstin Bergeå, chairperson of the Swedish Peace and Arbitration Association, to Dagens Nyheter.