From Idea to the Fact – Sweden’s Road to NATO

Abstract

Sweden’s security and defense policy has changed over the years – from putting a strong emphasis on national territorial defense, through participation in international crisis management missions, to a return to the concept of total defense. One of the first significant changes in Swedish security and defense policy dates back to the 2009 Declaration of Solidarity, which was repeated in 2014. Then and there, the government stressed that Sweden would not remain passive when another state is affected by a disaster or attacked. However, the real “revolution” in the Swedish security doctrine occurred after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The aforesaid war forced Sweden to review its security policy, resulting in the government’s decision that the Kingdom of Sweden would no longer be safe outside of NATO. Sweden’s resolution to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is historic and breaks with its long tradition of neutrality and non-alignment.