Sweden and Finland ‘agree to both apply for NATO membership in May’ in defiance of Russian threats 

A Finnish government report released earlier this month examined the ‘fundamentally changed’ security environment as regards Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and is formed the basis of parliamentary discussions on a possible application for NATO membership.

Swedish PM Andersson hosted Finnish PM Marin in Stockholm for a meeting on their prospective memberships of the alliance less than two weeks ago.

Marin said at the time: ‘There are different perspectives to apply (for) NATO membership or not to apply and we have to analyse these very carefully. But I think our process will be quite fast, it will happen in weeks.’

The assault on Ukraine sparked a dramatic U-turn in public and political opinion in Finland and neighbouring Sweden regarding their long-held policies of military non-alignment.