Sweden and Finland have now been given the status of officially invited members of NATO.

On 5 July, the ambassadors of the NATO countries signed the Accession Protocol to Sweden and Finland, and in connection with the meeting, the Swedish Government then handed over a “letter of intent” signed by Foreign Minister Ann Linde (S).  

The letter stated, among other things, that Sweden is prepared to deploy military forces for "all the alliance's missions" and "accepts the crucial role of nuclear weapons".

The expert William Alberque, director of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), assessed in connection with this that the letter will probably mean that Sweden's fighter aircraft can provide support to other NATO countries' fighter aircraft if they are to carry out missions with nuclear weapons. 

Foreign Ministry: "Sweden makes its own decisions"

Now the Ministry for Foreign Affairs says that Sweden retains its political independence and makes its own decisions - but that it is still covered by the organization's nuclear doctrine. 

"As long as nuclear weapons exist, NATO will remain a nuclear alliance.

NATO members are covered by the organization's nuclear doctrine, where nuclear weapons are the last and ultimate part of the Alliance's deterrence capability.

[...] NATO is a defense alliance.

A membership in NATO does not mean that Sweden must place nuclear weapons on its territory ", the Ministry of Foreign Affairs writes to SVT.

Possible protection of nuclear bases 

According to expert William Alberque, it is likely that Sweden may need to protect individual countries' bases where nuclear weapons are stored, by, for example, providing extra surveillance of the facilities.

The assessment is not disputed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

Sweden, as a NATO member, will contribute to security and to the collective defense of all member states.

Decisions on how and where Sweden would contribute in the event of a crisis will continue to be made by Sweden.

Sweden is not yet a member of NATO and is not part of NATO's joint defense planning.

What Swedish contributions would look like will be discussed at a later stage ", writes the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.