Sweden's prime minister announces that for the first time in decades the country's ruling party supports joining NATO

• Sweden's prime minister says ruling party supports the country's bid to join NATO.

• Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said Russia's invasion of Ukraine "fundamentally changed" security.

• The country plans to join Finland in applying for NATO membership.

Sweden's Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson said the country's ruling party supports the country's bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

"Today the social democratic party has concluded that Sweden should join NATO," Andersson said at a press conference on Sunday.

Andersson's party has for decades opposed joining the alliance for decades, Reuters reported.

"Our 200 year long standing policy of military non-alignment has served Sweden well, but the question at hand is whether military non-alignment will keep serving us well," she said.

She said Russia's invasion of Ukraine is not only "illegal" but undermined Sweden's security, adding that the security environment had "fundamentally changed."

Andersson said while Sweden has been a non-militarily aligned country, it isn't "neutral" and supports relationships with neighboring countries.

Sweden will be applying to join NATO with neighboring Finland. On Saturday, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said he spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and informed him of his plans to apply to join NATO in the next few days.

Niinisto also said that Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Putin's efforts to stop countries from joining NATO have "altered the security environment of Finland."

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