Swedish military technology (their ability to make high quality fighter planes for such a small country is fairly amazing) is good and they once had a potent military. And there is broad-based consensus to rebuild Sweden's post-Cold War military:
“Sweden’s national defense has been neglected for decades. What has happened is shameful. The budget allocated to the armed forces must reflect needs, operational realities and the requirement to replace outdated equipment. The goal should be to raise spending on defense to 2 percent of GDP, the recommended NATO level, inside 10 years,” said Ulf Kristersson, leader of the Moderates and someone being widely tipped to become Sweden’s next prime minister.
Of course, Sweden doesn't plan to meet the NATO spending goal until 4 years after NATO states are supposed to meet it. But they'll still beat Germany, I imagine.
Sweden's geography would make it an excellent NATO candidate if it can be a military contributor rather than just another member that needs rescuing. Until then, membership is too risky for NATO.
