The North Atlantic Treaty Organization today officially welcomes the 32nd member of the Alliance, Sweden, raising the country’s flag at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

“It’s a historic day,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, welcoming Sweden as the Alliance’s 32nd member in the presence of Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristerson. “Sweden now enjoys the protection of Article 5, the full guarantee for the freedom and security” of its members, G. Stoltenberg stressed, adding that “Sweden’s accession to NATO makes the Alliance and Sweden safer and the NATO stronger”. He also pointed out that “Putin wanted less NATO” but got the exact opposite, “with Finland and Sweden now full members of the Alliance and Ukraine closer than ever to joining”.

Sweden had to wait two years for the ratification of its membership by the 31 members of the Alliance. After two years of tough negotiations with Turkey to lift its veto and at the same time faced with the reluctance of the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Sweden today manages to officially become the 32nd member of the Alliance. Finland managed to become the 31st member of the Alliance a year ago. Reversing a decades-old tradition of neutrality, the two Nordic countries had simultaneously applied to join NATO in April 2022, shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“The Swedish flag is raised here at NATO headquarters with the strong support of our parliament and the Swedish people,” said the country’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristerson at a joint press conference with Stoltenberg today in Brussels. As the Swedish prime minister noted, as a sign of the country’s strong support for its NATO membership, the Swedish delegation today in Brussels consists not only of ministers, but also of Sweden’s Princess Victoria and six political leaders of the country.

“Unity and solidarity will be Sweden’s guiding lights as a member of NATO. We will share the burdens, responsibilities and risks with our allies,” the Swedish prime minister said, adding that “the security situation in our region has never been so serious since the Second World War” and Russia will remain a threat to Euro-Atlantic security in the foreseeable future. “It is in this light that Sweden applied for NATO membership to gain security, but also to provide security,” continued Ulf Kirstersson, stressing that our support for Ukraine is a fundamental part of that security. “Ukraine is fighting bravely for its own freedom, but it is also defending European freedom,” the Swedish Prime Minister underlined.