Sweden became the 32nd member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization on Thursday, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said in a statement.
“Sweden is now a NATO member,” Kristersson posted to X. “Thank you all Allies for welcoming us as the 32nd member. We will strive for unity, solidarity and burden-sharing, and will fully adhere to the Washington Treaty values: freedom, democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law. Stronger together.”
Sweden is now a NATO member. Thank you all Allies for welcoming us as the 32nd member. We will strive for unity, solidarity and burden-sharing, and will fully adhere to the Washington Treaty values: freedom, democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law. Stronger together.
— SwedishPM (@SwedishPM) March 7, 2024
The declaration comes after Hungary approved the bid last month, and after NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg invited the European country to join the military alliance.
The last step in joining the 32-member alliance occurred Thursday when Kristersson deposited the Swedish “instrument of accession” at the U.S. State Department in a ceremony Secretary of State Antony Blinken presided over.
“This is a historic moment for Sweden,” Blinken said during the ceremony, according to the Associated Press. “It’s historic for the alliance. It’s history for the trans-Atlantic relationship. Our NATO alliance is now stronger, larger than it’s ever been.”
The White House also celebrated the union in a statement, claiming Sweden’s entrance would make the alliance safer and stronger, in part because of its powerful military arsenal.
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“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,” according to the White House.
Kristersson will join President Joe Biden as a guest at the State of the Union address to Congress later Thursday.