Swedish personnel commenced their relocation into NATO’s distinctive glass-walled headquarters in Brussels, more than a year following the nation’s formal accession to the alliance, Euractiv reported.
Stacks of packing boxes were observed piled near office entrances last week, previously occupied by the alliance’s internal staff, significantly obstructing access to the area now designated for the Swedish delegation. The scene was noted by Euractiv during a visit to the NATO complex.
Sweden, alongside Finland, initiated its application to join NATO in the wake of the war in Ukraine, which began in February 2022. While Finland proceeded to membership relatively swiftly, Sweden’s accession process encountered significant delays.
These stemmed primarily from Turkish objections concerning Sweden’s stance towards exiled Kurdish separatist groups. Consequently, Stockholm’s official membership was finalised in spring 2024, several months after its neighbour.
Beyond altering the strategic balance in the Baltic region, the alliance’s enlargement precipitated a more immediate, practical challenge: a pressing need for additional office space within the Brussels headquarters to accommodate the expanded delegations from Helsinki and Stockholm. Although NATO’s modern €1 billion headquarters complex, inaugurated in 2018, provided dedicated offices for all 30 members at that time, planners did not allocate surplus space for potential future members.
The Finnish delegation successfully transitioned into their new space last November. Until very recently, however, Swedish staff were accommodated within NATO’s older Cold War-era facilities situated directly across the road. The constant shuttling involved navigating security checkpoints repeatedly, transforming each trip into a commute of roughly 20 minutes.
The ageing building now exclusively hosts offices for NATO’s non-member partners, including Ukraine.
