Following Finland’s NATO membership announcement, Sweden has recently outlined they want a membership too

Both countries are officially applying for the NATO alliance.

Sweden’s Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson says her country is preparing to leave one euro behind and enter a new one.

“The government has decided to inform NATO that Sweden wants to become a member of the alliance,” she says. 

Within days neighbouring nations Finland sent their application to join NATO.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the alliance’s expansion may trigger a response from Moscow.

He says,”[it poses] no direct threat for us… but the expansion of military infrastructure to these territories will certainly provoke our response,” Putin said during a summit meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation, a Moscow-led military alliance.

Amanda Gunn contributed to this post.