Sweden’s defence minister told Swedish radio on Tuesday that joining NATO would boost the Nordic region’s security capabilities by allowing cooperative defence planning within the alliance’s structure.

“(If Sweden and Finland join NATO), we would be able to completely complement each other’s capabilities and advantages, as well as conduct operational planning,” said Sweden’s ruling Social Democrats’ Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist. “If that’s the case, we’ll all be stronger together.” “If we opt to join NATO, this is something that could happen,” he told the public channel.

The Social Democrats will decide on May 15 whether to abandon their decades-long resistance to NATO membership, paving the way for Sweden to request membership in the 30-nation alliance.