Sweden formally joins NATO military alliance, ending centuries of neutrality

Sweden officially joined NATO as its 32nd member on Thursday, almost two years after first applying to the military alliance.

Early on Thursday, the Swedish government said in a statement it was holding an extraordinary meeting to vote on joining NATO after all current members had approved its accession to the military alliance.

The news was then confirmed later Thursday with a statement from NATO, with Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg saying the country was “taking its rightful place at our table.”

“Sweden’s accession makes NATO stronger, Sweden safer, and the whole Alliance more secure. I look forward to raising their flag at NATO HQ on Monday,” he added.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson traveled to Washington, D.C., this week to hand over the final documents, the statement said. “Sweden will then be a member of NATO and fully participating Ally,” it read.

Sweden first applied to join NATO in May 2022, not long after Russia’s war on Ukraine began. This marked a significant change in Sweden’s previous policy of military non-alignment.

NATO members Hungary and Turkey delayed the process of Sweden’s accession, with both countries only voting in favor of it this year. All existing members must approve a new country joining the alliance, whose key principle is that an attack on one of them is an attack on all of them.

Hungary’s governing party, led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban, long opposed Sweden’s NATO membership amid Sweden’s criticism of the state of democracy in Hungary. The prime ministers of both countries met in Budapest, Hungary, last month and committed to work through differences, saying they would “die for each other.”

Turkey, meanwhile, ratified…