“At its meeting today, May 15, 2022, the board of the Social Democrats decided that the party will work to get Sweden to apply for NATO membership,” the party’s official statement says.
The Social Democrats will seek to ensure that Sweden, if the application is approved by NATO, "expresses unilateral reservations against the deployment of nuclear weapons and permanent bases on Swedish territory."
The Finnish government has previously made a formal decision to apply for membership in NATO.
Finnish Minister of State Property and Relations with the EU Tytti Tuppurainen said that the Finnish authorities are ready for "all sorts of unpleasant measures" from Russia because of the country's plans to join NATO.
Russian President Vladimir Putin noted that Finland's refusal from the traditional policy of military neutrality would be erroneous, since there are no threats to the country's security.
Moscow also warned that if Finland joined NATO, Russia would be forced to take retaliatory steps, including those of a military-technical nature.