Sweden officially joins the NATO alliance, a strategic blow to Moscow

Sweden formally joined NATO on Thursday, becoming its 32nd member, two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forced both Sweden and Finland to put aside their traditional military non-alignment and seek the collective security of the American-led alliance.

After months of uncertainty caused by the hesitations of Turkey and Hungary, Sweden officially joined by filing its legal paperwork – its instrument for joining the North Atlantic Treaty – with the US State Department in Washington.

At a brief ceremony in Washington, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken received the documents from Ulf Kristersson, the Swedish prime minister, and said: “Good things come to those who wait.” Mr Blinken said “everything changed” after the Russian invasion. “Swedes realized something very profound: that if Putin was willing to try to erase one neighboring country from the map, he might not stop there.”

Mr Blinken said Sweden’s membership is a clear example “of the strategic debacle that Ukraine has become for Russia”, adding: “Everything Putin tried to prevent, he has actually accelerated through his actions, through his aggression .”

Mr Kristersson said that “today is a truly historic day.” Sweden, he said, “will defend freedom together with the countries closest to us – in terms of geography, culture and values.” He pledged that Sweden, which largely dismantled its ground forces after 1989 but has retained a powerful air force and navy, would soon reach NATO’s goal of spending 2 percent of gross domestic product on the military.

NATO plans a Swedish flag-raising ceremony on Monday at its headquarters in Brussels, as well as at NATO commands across Europe and North America.

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, called it “a historic day.” In a statement, he said that “Sweden will now take its rightful place at the NATO table, with an equal voice in shaping NATO policies and decisions. After more than 200 years of non-alignment, Sweden now enjoys the protection granted under Article 5, the ultimate guarantee of the freedom and security of its allies.”

Sweden, he continued, “makes NATO stronger, Sweden more secure and the entire alliance more secure.”

The Russian government has said it will now take unspecified measures to strengthen its own defenses against the newly expanded NATO, which, with Sweden and Finland, has a much longer land border with Russia than before.