- 500 people in the large office block were evacuated by police wearing masks
- Sweden hopes to be accepted into NATO on Monday after Hungary’s vote.
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A mysterious “gas leak” at Sweden’s security service office has put seven people in hospital today, three days before the country clears the final hurdle to join NATO.
Police evacuated 500 people from the office after an “unknown substance” was released at the headquarters in Solna, Stockholm county.
This comes as concerns about foreign threats have increased as NATO’s decision approaches.
Earlier in the week, the intelligence service released a report warning of the threat posed by foreign state actors, particularly Russia, China and Iran, recalling Russia’s historical disdain for a growing NATO.
The area around the office was sealed off while masked officers dealt with the situation.
The cause of the expected leak is still unclear.
The area around the office was sealed off while masked officers dealt with the situation.
Also today, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest: Hungary is the last country to vote on Sweden’s membership.
Swedish Security Service spokeswoman Karin Lutz said action was taken and “emergency services are on the scene” after receiving an alarm.
Police said an area of ”a couple of hundred meters” around the building had been closed after “a possible gas leak.”
Police and emergency services were at the scene and some of those taken to hospital were officers who “smelled an odor when they arrived”.
Around 4:30 p.m., police said the operation was over.
Patrik Soderberg, chief physician of the local health authority of the Stockholm Region, said: “At around 1:00 p.m. today, there were indications that there was a dangerous substance in (the) offices.
“So far, five people have been taken to hospital with respiratory symptoms and there are also two people who have sought treatment themselves for respiratory symptoms.”
The AFP reported that Sweden is currently on high alert.
It hopes to clear the final hurdle to its bid to join NATO on Monday, when Hungary, the last holdout, will vote on ratifying its membership.
The country has been waiting almost two years since applying for membership in May 2022.
Finland applied at the same time and was welcomed into NATO last April.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest
According axiosPublic support for NATO membership in the Nordic countries soared virtually overnight after Russia invaded Ukraine, with strong majorities in both countries favoring joining the alliance.
It seems very likely that Sweden will become a member, with only Hungary left to cast its vote.
In 2022, then-Prime Minister of Sweden Magdalena Andersson pointed to Russia’s actions as the reason for wanting to join the defensive body.
When NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed Finland to the alliance last April, he said: ‘President Putin wanted to slam the door on NATO.
‘Today we show the world that it failed, that aggression and intimidation do not work.
‘Instead of less NATO, it has achieved the opposite: more NATO. And our door remains firmly open.”