Sweden on Thursday formally joined NATO as the 32nd member of the transatlantic military alliance, ending decades of post-World War II neutrality as concerns about Russian aggression in Europe have spiked following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Secretary of State Antony Blinken presided at a ceremony in which Sweden’s “instrument of accession” to the alliance was officially deposited at the State Department.
“Good things come to those who wait,” Blinken said.
Later Thursday. Kristersson will visit the White House and then be a guest of honor at President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address to Congress.
The White House said that having Sweden as a NATO ally “will make the United States and our allies even safer.”
“NATO is the most powerful defensive alliance in the history of the world, and it is as critical today to ensuring the security of our citizens as it was 75 years ago when our alliance was founded out of the wreckage of World War II,” it said in a statement.
Sweden, along with Finland, which joined NATO last year, both abandoned long-standing military neutrality that was a hallmark of the Nordic states’ Cold War foreign policy after Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022.
