Sweden finalizes NATO membership, enhancing Northern defense

This formal decision was made at a special meeting in Stockholm, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Energy, Ebba Busch.

"We have received an official invitation from NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg," Busch highlighted at a specially convened conference. "This marks the beginning of a new chapter for the Kingdom of Sweden," she said, acknowledging Sweden's more than 200-year history of neutrality.

Late on Thursday in Washington, D.C., the Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Foreign Minister Tobias Billström, along with handing over the Swedish accession documents to the USA, completed the accession process. Sweden will now benefit from the security guarantee of Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, which ensures collective defense among allies.

Sweden applied to join NATO in May 2022 after a historic shift in policy by the then-ruling Social Democrats. This decision was partly influenced by Finland's similar move and Russia's aggression against Ukraine.

The Swedish Defense Minister, Pal Jonson, emphasized that Finnish membership alone was incomplete in terms of defense capabilities without Sweden's NATO accession.