MOSCOW, August 2 (Sputnik) - Sweden's accession to NATO will automatically effect its participation in the NATO Innovation Fund (NIF), a 1 billion euro ($1.1 billion) multi-sovereign venture capital fund for investing in defense start-ups, the Swedish Defense Ministry said on Tuesday.

The NIF is designed to invest in defense and security start-ups in its partner states, which currently include 23 out of 31 NATO countries.

The NIF's participating countries include Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Turkiye and the United Kingdom.

Sweden, along with Finland, submitted its NATO application in May 2022, several months after Russia launched its military operation in Ukraine. Finland became a member of the alliance in April 2023. Sweden's application is still pending ratification by Hungary and Turkiye.