Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda told Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson that Vilnius supports her country’s NATO membership.
“We have always been in favour of closer cooperation between Sweden and the alliance,” Nausėda said in a press release after his phone conversation with Andersson on Friday. “We welcome and express our full support for your country’s plans to join NATO.”
Sweden is expected to announce its plans for whether to seek membership in the military alliance.
“Every country has the right to decide and choose which security organisation it wants to belong to. I can assure that Lithuania will be ready to ratify the accession protocols swiftly,” Nausėda added.
Nausėda underlined that Sweden’s membership in NATO would strengthen its own security and that of the entire region, and would make a significant contribution to bolstering the alliance’s defence capabilities in the face of the long-term threat posed by Russia.
Sweden’s ruling Social Democrats are expected to make public their opinion on the country’s NATO membership on Sunday.
The leaders of neighbouring Finland expressed their willingness to join the alliance on Thursday.
Political and public opinion in Sweden and Finland swung dramatically in favour of NATO membership after Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
Read more: Finland in NATO ‘creates a problem for Russia’, says Lithuanian defence chief
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