The assessment that there will very soon be some positive development on the subject of Sweden’s accession to the NATO expressed the US Under Secretary of State James O’Brienin view of the Summit of Foreign Ministers of the NATO member states that will take place in Brussels.

During a briefing on Anthony Blinken’s priorities for the Summit, James O’Brien, Under Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, noted that Sweden meets all the accession criteria and that the US expects it to be very soon a new NATO ally.

As he characteristically noted, “with regard to Sweden’s candidacy, we believe that Sweden is fully capable at this time of contributing to the Alliance. We believe he will be an excellent ally in NATO and we expect him to become an ally very soon. Our view, which we have expressed to our Turkish allies, has been that there is no reason to delay further and we expect to see some positive development very soon. Hungary has always said that it will not be the last to ratify Sweden’s membership in the Alliance, so we expect that Hungary will also follow suit very soon.”

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken will travel to Brussels on November 27-29 to attend the NATO Foreign Ministers’ Summit, including the first NATO-Ukraine Council Foreign Ministers’ meeting.

According to the State Department announcement, “Secretary Blinken will underscore NATO’s steadfast commitment to Ukraine’s fight against Russian aggression, emphasize our support for democracy and regional stability in the Western Balkans, and discuss priorities for the Washington Summit in July 2024.”