Swedish Chief of Defence General Micael Bydén with Chair of the NATO Military Committee Admiral Rob Bauer at Exercise Vigilant Knife. (NATO, https://flic.kr/p/2nJJF48; CC BY-NC-ND 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/)
Contrary to widespread belief, Sweden has not been neutral since at least its accession to the European Union in 1995, if not earlier. Unlike Austria or Switzerland, the country does not have constitutionally mandated neutrality. Yet 2022 bore witness to a historic reversal of Sweden’s alliansfrihet (military nonalignment). Sweden’s decision to pursue NATO membership did not result in a quick accession process: Sweden has been under pressure to adapt its legal system far beyond what it expected before formally applying, and Turkish opposition has forced Sweden to recalibrate its foreign policy.
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