Simon Johnson and Niklas Polkard

STOCKHOLM, (Reuters) – The ruling Social Democrats in Sweden were ready to support the country’s membership in NATO. This will allow for a quick application and end decades of non-alignment following Russia’s invasion in Ukraine.

While Russia was an unknown threat only months back, Russia’s attack against its small neighbour made Sweden and Finland reconsider their security requirements and seek safety in the alliance which they have been standing apart from for the past long period of the Cold War.

Although the war in Ukraine is called a “special military operation”, Moscow says it has killed thousands of people and caused millions to be displaced. It also broke down long-standing security policy and generated a lot of support from both sides for NATO membership.

Magdalena Andersson, Prime Minister, is the Social Democrats. They have been the largest party in all elections for over 100 years.

The party leadership has stated that it would decide Sunday and is widely believed to have dropped its opposition. Support for the alliance would be a strong majority in Sweden’s Riksdag, with most of the opposition in favor. Andersson’s minority cabinet would likely submit a formal application.

Since the Napoleonic Wars, Sweden was at peace. However, it has been less reluctant than Finland to abandon its non-alignment. Finland fought a brutal war with the Soviet Union during the 20th century.

On Thursday, Finland’s President and Prime Minister set the country on course for joining the Western Alliance “without delay”, adding momentum to Sweden following suit.

An application for membership will bring with it a long wait. All NATO member countries must ratify the agreement within the next few months. Turkey has voiced objections, but the White House said that the alliance was confident the security concerns can be dealt with in the interim.

They are NATO allies and have participated in many allied exercises over the years. Both also voted for the European Union in 1995, but they remain neutral. They have always believed that public choice was the best way to keep peace.

Russia warned Finland and Sweden of the “serious implications” of its actions and said it would deploy hypersonic missiles and nuclear weapons in Kaliningrad, Europe, if Sweden or Finland became NATO members.

Moscow’s decision to join NATO would be a defeat, as the conflict in Ukraine will trigger the same kind of NATO enlargement on Russia’s borders Moscow claims it fought to stop.

After Finland’s leaders announced their desire to join NATO, the Kremlin declared it a hostile act that threatened Russia and warned vaguely about “retaliatory measures, both of military-technical nature”

Sweden spent the past decade rebuilding its army, especially after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. In 2014 the United States purchased Patriot missile defense systems from the USA and placed troops on Gotland, a Baltic island.

An all-party cross-party Parliamentary Review on Friday found that NATO membership would help strengthen Sweden’s National Security and stabilise the Nordic, Baltic and Baltic Regions.