SWEDEN, July 12 - “After 200 years of military non-alignment, Sweden has now come home to like-minded countries in NATO. This shift means that we are defending ourselves together with others. The meeting in Washington DC sent a strong message of unity and determination. The transatlantic link has maintained peace in the NATO countries for 75 years, and will continue to do so,” says Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

The summit in Washington DC brought together heads of state and government from all 32 NATO member states and specially invited leaders: the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the leaders of Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea, the President of the European Council and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

The meeting focused on three main themes: deterrence and defence, long-term support to Ukraine, and cooperation with the EU and NATO’s global partners.

Deterrence and defence

Since 2014, NATO’s allies have carried out the largest reinforcement of collective defence in an entire generation – with more forces, more capabilities and greater investments. With Sweden and Finland as new members, the Alliance’s deterrence and defence capabilities have been strengthened even further.

At the summit in Washington DC, the NATO countries endorsed the NATO Industrial Capacity Expansion Pledge, which aims to scale up defence industrial production and send a clear signal to industry about the long-term need.

Long-term support to Ukraine

Support to Ukraine is a crucial issue for security. At the summit, the NATO-allied countries agreed to launch a new initiative for the coordination of military support and training of Ukrainian soldiers. The Allies also agreed on a financial pledge to Ukraine of EUR 40 billion for the next year and in the long term. 

All Allies also agree that Ukraine’s future NATO membership is not a matter of if, but of when. 

Cooperation with the EU and NATO’s global partners

The war in Ukraine has shown that security is not only built regionally, but globally. The growing cooperation between Russia and China makes it even more important that NATO countries cooperate with like-minded friends in Asia.

Cooperation with the EU is also central to meeting common challenges in a declining international security policy situation.