Swedish lawmakers have given the green light for eight multi-role fighter jets to be stationed in Poland as part of a NATO mission to oversee the transfer of military aid to Ukraine.
The Gripen planes will be in Poland from May 1 to August 31.
The deployment was announced by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's center-right government in early March.
“Poland has taken on a big responsibility for helping Ukraine and has been exposed to acts of sabotage,” said Hakan Svenneling of the opposition Left Party.
Other lawmakers said that taking part in the air operation in Poland was “another step” in Sweden's commitment to NATO.
The Nordic country sent 550 troops to Latvia in January and there are plans for a Swedish military presence in Finland.
Sweden joined NATO last March, two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forced Stockholm to rethink its national security policy and conclude that being a member of the Western military alliance was the country’s best guarantee of safety.
“If we don't protect our neighbors, we could be the ones targeted for attacks next,” Magnus Berntsson of the center-right Christian Democrats said during a debate in the Swedish parliament on Thursday.
The air mission will see up to 150 Swedish military personnel deployed to Poland, including pilots and ground staff.
Ninety percent of all international military aid to Ukraine goes through Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport in southeast Poland, a key supply hub.
