YesThis Thursday, Sweden became the 32nd member of the Atlantic Alliance (NATO). at a ceremony in Washington, in an accession prompted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine that ends two centuries of non-alignment for the Scandinavian country.
“Good things come to those who wait,” said US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken accepting the accession documents from the Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristerssonafter the ratification of the other 31 members of the military alliance.
Kristersson stated that his country's entry into NATO is a “victory for freedom.”
Sweden launched its application to join the alliance in May 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It did so at the same time as Finland, which was admitted in April 2023.
The Swedish armed forces have 50,000 soldiers, about half of whom are reservists, and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson declared in January that his country is willing to provide troops to NATO forces in Latvia.
But geopolitically, after the entry of Finland, Sweden's entry means for Russia that the Baltic Sea is now surrounded by NATO member countries, with some analysts describing it as a “Nato lake.”
AFP
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