On Thursday 7 March, Sweden became the 32nd member of the Atlantic Alliance.
“Sweden is now NATO’s 32nd member, taking its rightful place at our table, with equal weight in shaping NATO’s policies and decisions. Sweden’s membership makes NATO stronger; Sweden and the Alliance as a whole more secure”, stressed NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in a statement, describing the day as “historic”. He recalled that Sweden had competent armed forces and a first-rate defence industry.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson travelled to Washington on Thursday, where Secretary of State Antony Blinken ceremoniously received the ratification documents. Earlier in the day, Mr Kristersson announced that Mr Stoltenberg had informed him that all NATO member states had accepted the accession protocol and had invited Sweden to join the North Atlantic Treaty.
On Monday, the Hungarian President, Tamás Sulyok, ratified the National Assembly’s decision of 26 February on Sweden’s accession to NATO (see EUROPE 13358/28). Hungary was the last country to do so.
The Swedish flag will be raised alongside the other allied flags at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Monday.
See the notification of entry into force of Sweden’s accession protocol: https://aeur.eu/f/b76 (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)