Swedish Ambassador Karin Olofsdotter on a historic NATO bid

WAMU 88.5 | By Kathryn Fink

Published May 17, 2022 at 11:57 AM MDT

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (C), Finland Ministers for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto (L) and Sweden Foreign minister Ann Linde (R) give a press conference after their meeting at the NATO headquarters in Brussels.

It’s official.

After centuries of military neutrality, Sweden is applying to join NATO. So is Finland.

What does that mean for Sweden? For NATO? And for Russia?

The Associated Press reports:

The move drew strong objections from Turkey, a key NATO member who declared the two nations should not be allowed to join because they have been too lax in taking action against Kurdish militants. Countries can only join NATO if all current members agree.

Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson warned that the Nordic country would be in a “vulnerable position” during the application period and urged her fellow citizens to brace themselves for the Russian response.

“Russia has said that that it will take countermeasures if we join NATO,” she said. “We cannot rule out that Sweden will be exposed to, for instance, disinformation and attempts to intimidate and divide us.”

We talk with the Swedish ambassador to the U.S., Karin Olofsdotter, about the historic move.