Sweden officially joined NATO. It became the 32nd member of the Alliance.
This is stated in the relevant accession protocol published on the website of the US State Department.
Today, the Swedish flag will be raised over the headquarters of the Alliance in Brussels.
In May 2022, Sweden and Finland abandoned their traditional neutrality against the background of Russiaʼs military invasion of Ukraine and applied for NATO membership. Finland joined the bloc in April 2023.
Of the 30 NATO countries, only Turkey and Hungary did not ratify Swedenʼs accession, however, on January 25, 2024, Turkey officially completed the ratification of Swedenʼs accession to NATO. Earlier, Turkey blocked the entry, arguing that Stockholm did not fulfill its obligations regarding the extradition of alleged Kurdish extremists.
Until February 26, 2024, Hungary remained the only member state of the Alliance that had not yet ratified Stockholmʼs application and openly inhibited the countryʼs accession. The reasons were different: the parliament is busy, the factions are debating, the conflict with the Swedes needs to be resolved and a meeting with the Prime Minister of Sweden is needed.
Hungarian Prime Minister Orbánʼs government believed that Swedish politicians were telling "outright lies" about the state of democracy in Hungary. However, when Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson came to Hungary and met with his counterpart there Viktor Orbán the countryʼs position ceased to be categorical.