In an engaging ceremony under rainy skies, Sweden officially cemented its place as the 32nd member of NATO on March 11th. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Crown Princess Victoria looked on proudly as Swedish soldiers raised the distinctive blue and yellow national flag alongside other alliance banners at headquarters in Brussels.
The flag-raising marked the completion of Sweden's accession process just two years after Russia shocked the region with its full invasion of Ukraine. This single belligerent act by President Vladimir Putin had the unintended effect of persuading previously neutral Sweden that NATO membership was the surest path to security.
In short order, widespread Swedish public support emerged for abandoning the country's long tradition of non-alignment and seeking the collective defense guarantees of Article 5. Finland likewise applied for membership in April 2023, forming with Sweden a united Nordic front within NATO.
Addressing the ceremony, PM Kristersson said Putin had aimed to fracture Ukraine and curtail NATO expansion, but achieved the opposite. The alliance is now bigger and stronger, with Ukraine closer than ever, as brave Ukrainians continue resisting the ongoing invasion. Sweden brings well-trained armed forces meeting NATO spending targets, committed to the Washington Treaty values of “all for one, one for all.”
Concurrently, 20,000 troops from 13 countries began NATO drills in northern Sweden, Finland and Norway to demonstrate the ability to protect every inch of allied territory. With Sweden's induction, a strategic ring of NATO states now encircles the Baltic Sea region. Russia's overreach has paradoxically bolstered the very alliance it long sought to constrain.
