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Live UpdateFrom the Liveblog of Monday, May 16, 2022
Sweden’s PM formally declares intent to apply for NATO membership
Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson gives a news conference in the capital Stockholm on May 16, 2022. (Henrik Montgomery/Various Sources/AFP)
STOCKHOLM — Sweden will apply for membership in NATO as a deterrent against Russian aggression, Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson says in a historic reversal of the country’s decades-long military non-alignment.
“The government has decided to inform NATO that Sweden wants to become a member of the alliance. Sweden’s NATO ambassador will shortly inform NATO,” Andersson tells reporters a day after neighboring Finland made a similar announcement.
