IT IS increasingly likely that both Sweden and Finland will be fast-tracked to NATO membership by the end of June 2022.
On May 15, the President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö, and the Ministerial Committee on Foreign and Security Policy finalised a report regarding accession to NATO. The Finnish findings will be submitted to parliament once they have been endorsed in the government plenary session. The President and the Ministerial Committee agreed that Finland would apply for NATO membership after parliament had its say.
The following day, on May 16, the office of Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson announced that it had also decided to apply for NATO membership. This decision was based on a security analysis to which the government had invited the other Riksdag parties to take part and the conclusions of which were presented on May 13.