"The NATO process is a big change for us where we have to take responsibility and understand what is expected of us", says the Swedish defense chief Micael Bydén during a press conference on Thursday.

He was in Luleå in Sweden this week, where he met Admiral Robert Bauer, who heads NATO's military committee, to inform about Sweden's NATO process and cooperation with the defense alliance.

Turkey has not yet approved Sweden's and Finland's Nato applications, but several meetings have been held at an official level between the three countries, most recently in Vantaa in Finland at the end of August.

For the first time, Sweden and Finland are invited to participate in a meeting of NATO's military committee. The meeting will take place in the Estonian capital Tallinn and all 30 NATO countries will participate.

At the press conference, Bauer said that the NATO process is well under way.

"When it is finished, it will mean a shift from national security to common security", said the admiral.