2024-03-07 22:34:24
Sweden joined NATO today, becoming the 32nd member of the military alliance, the US government announced, as quoted by DPA.
The official statement published by the US State Department announced that the “North Atlantic Treaty Organization Protocol with the Kingdom of Sweden” entered into force today.
The Nordic country’s membership means that all NATO allies, including the US, are obligated to defend the country if it is attacked, and vice versa. Stockholm also contributes to the pact with its significant military industry, which already supplies several alliance countries.
Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO in May 2022, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February of that year. Finland became a member of the alliance in April 2023.
Sweden’s flag will be flown outside the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels on Monday. This was announced by the Secretary General of the Pact, Jens Stoltenberg.
It is now official – Sweden is the 32nd country in NATO, he wrote in “X”. Thus, the country takes its rightful place among the allies, he adds. Sweden’s entry into NATO makes the pact stronger and the country more secure, added Stoltenberg.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is in Washington to hand over the full paperwork for full membership, and a White House statement ahead of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech said Sweden would join today.
“Sweden’s presence as a NATO ally will make the United States and our allies even more secure,” the statement said.
The Swedish government separately said it would make the official decision on the country’s NATO accession today.
For NATO, the accession of Sweden and Finland, which share a 1,340 km border with Russia, is the most significant expansion in decades. It is also a blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is trying to prevent further strengthening of the alliance, BTA reported.
Sweden will benefit from the alliance’s common defense guarantee, according to which an attack on one NATO member country is considered an attack on all member countries, Reuters recalls.