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Sweden is now a member of NATO – since 17:27.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (M) then handed over the accession document to US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken in Washington.
– Today is a victory for freedom.
At a joint press conference with Antony Blinken, Ulf Kristersson says that it is a “historic day”, and that “we are humble but also proud”. He reminds that in 2024, Sweden will reach NATO’s goal that defense spending should amount to 2 percent of GDP.
– We will live up to the high expectations of all NATO allies.
The Prime Minister further says that Sweden “will share burdens, responsibilities and risks with our allies”.
– The security situation in our region has not been this serious since the Second World War. Russia will remain a serious threat to Euro-Atlantic security for the foreseeable future.
USA: Never hesitated
Blinken calls Sweden’s entry into NATO “historic”, and highlights Russia’s and President Vladimir Putin’s major invasion of Ukraine as decisive for the Swedish decision.
– The Swedes realized something important, that if Putin was prepared to erase a neighbor from the map, he might not stop there.
According to Blinken, Sweden fits well into NATO, both in terms of democratic values and Sweden’s military capabilities.
– Some doubted that we would come here, but we never hesitated. Now we are here, says US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg writes on X that Sweden now takes “its rightful place at our table”, and that he “looks forward to raising their flag at NATO headquarters on Monday”.
Back home in Stockholm, the Swedish government had an extra meeting on Thursday afternoon when a formal decision was made that Sweden would join NATO.
The Riksdag made its decision almost a year ago.
Televised speech
At 7pm tonight, the Prime Minister will deliver a televised address to the nation from Washington DC.
The path into NATO has taken Sweden two years. It was Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine that started the swing towards membership. On May 16, 2022, the then social democratic government decided that Sweden would apply to join the defense alliance.
Hungary became the last country to ratify Sweden on 26 February.
Next week, Sweden’s flag will be raised at the NATO headquarters in Brussels.