NATO is also reviewing its defense plans to be able to defend "every inch" of the bloc's territory in the event of a conflict with Russia, the report said. If Sweden joins the alliance in the near future, the move would facilitate troops transfer to the Baltic flank, the magazine reported.
"It's very important that Sweden is going as quickly as possible on board, because if you look at the map, we really need Sweden so that this whole thing is deep enough, what we are going to defend. It's very important for logistics and everything else. We already know that it's rather difficult to defend the Baltic countries. The same goes for Finland if Sweden is not on board," Harri Ohra-aho, an advisor for intelligence in Finland's Defense Ministry, was quoted as saying by the magazine.
The report also said that Sweden would for the first time join NATO's nuclear planning group and be included in the alliance's ongoing discussions on how to update and combine its conventional and nuclear deterrence against Russia.
Sweden, along with Finland, submitted its NATO application in May 2022, several months after Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine. Finland became a member of the alliance in April 2023. Sweden's application is still pending approval from Hungary and Turkey.