ANKARA

Sweden has decided to formally apply for NATO membership, the country's prime minister announced on Monday.

“We will inform NATO that we want to join the alliance," Magdalena Andersson told a press conference in the Swedish capital Stockholm.

An official statement said "NATO membership is the best way to protect Sweden's security in light of the fundamentally changed security environment" following Russia's war on Ukraine, which began in February.

The policy choice was also the subject of a special debate in the Riksdag, the country's parliament, and the decision was supported by a broad majority.

The decision comes a day after Finland also announced to launch its bid to become part of the military alliance, abandoning decades of military non-alignment. The membership needs to be approved by all 30 members of the alliance.