Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde signs an application to join NATO. May 17, 2022 MOSCOW, May 17. Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde signed an application to join the North Atlantic Alliance, the country's representative office in the organization said on Twitter. The document would have been signed on Tuesday morning. At the end of last week, the ruling social Sweden's Democratic Party announced its decision to apply for membership in the alliance, noting that if approved, Stockholm would oppose the deployment of nuclear weapons and military bases in the country. Finland also officially decided to join the military bloc. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenbrg, in turn, promised to speed up the process of accepting the two new states. Helsinki and Stockholm started talking about the possibility of abandoning the long-term neutrality after the start of a special military operation to demilitarize and denazify Ukraine. Russia has repeatedly stated that NATO is aimed at confrontation. According to presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov, the entry of Finland and Sweden into the organization «is unlikely to somehow strengthen and improve the security architecture on our continent.» Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, in turn, said that the accession of two new countries to the alliance «frees Russia's hands.» . What will happen if the Swedes and Finns join an alliance
