Earlier this week, Swedish Moderate Party member Olof Lavesson told Sputnik that the country could join NATO in the near future in light of growing pro-NATO sentiment in Sweden.
"As for me and my party, I'm not in favor of Sweden becoming part of NATO for many different reasons, but what we have done at the moment is try to find a cross-party agreement on defense,” Gunnarsson said.
Gunnarsson added, however, that Sweden and NATO have a history of good partnership. The politician also expressed concern over the crisis in Ukraine, in close proximity to Sweden, adding that recent developments triggered Sweden's, and the other Nordic countries', reaction to the potential threat.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, established in 1949, currently comprises 28 members.
The most significant expansion of NATO happened after the end of the Cold War. Ten countries joined NATO during two rounds of expansion: Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic — in 1999; Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia — in 2004. Croatia and Albania entered the alliance in 2009.
