Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Crown Princess Victoria and six national party leaders travelled to Brussels on Monday 11 March to attend the raising of the Swedish flag alongside those of the 31 other allies and NATO.
On Thursday 7 March, Sweden officially became a member of the Atlantic Alliance, after 200 years of neutrality (see EUROPE 13366/14).
“This is a historic day”, said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
“We stand shoulder to shoulder to defend democracy and freedom”, Mr Kristersson stressed, adding that unity and solidarity would be Sweden’s guiding lights as an ally and that it would share “the burden, the responsibilities and the risks” with the other allies.
In his view, the security situation in the region has not been as serious since the Second World War, and Russia will remain a threat to Euro-Atlantic security for the foreseeable future.
It was in this context that Sweden applied to NATO “to gain security, but also to provide security”, he explained.
Mr Stoltenberg reiterated that NATO’s door was open, adding that Vladimir Putin had failed in his objective of “less NATO”. Since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden have joined the Alliance. The Secretary General also pointed out that Ukraine had never been so close to NATO. “President Putin started this war and could end it today. But Ukraine does not have this option. Surrender is not peace”, he explained, adding that Ukraine needed to be strengthened “to show President Putin that he will not get what he wants on the battlefield and that he must sit down at the negotiating table”. Over the weekend, Pope Francis called on the warring parties to have “the courage to raise the white flag and negotiate”. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)