Sweden officially becomes member of NATO

On Thursday, Sweden officially became a member of NATO. This ended its neutral stance since World War II. The decision was influenced by worries about Russian aggression in Europe, especially after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The Swedish Prime Minister and the US Secretary of State attended an event where Sweden officially joined an alliance. The event took place at the State Department.

“This is a very important moment for Sweden’s history. ” It’s a big moment for the alliance. “This is an important moment in the relationship between Europe and America,” said Blinken. “Our NATO group is now more powerful and bigger than it has ever been. “

“Our alliance to protect ourselves is now even stronger and bigger than it has ever been,” he said, and thanked Sweden for being strong and tough.

“It’s been a long journey, but we always knew we would get here one day,” said Mr Blinken. Nato leader Jens Stoltenberg said that Sweden has strong military and defense industry, making the alliance stronger and safer.

Sweden asked to join a group that protects countries after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, but two members stopped Sweden from joining.

Turkey was mad at Sweden for helping Kurdish separatists, and they didn’t want to agree at first. It finally decided to cancel its veto in January of this year.

Hungary’s leader accused Sweden of being unfriendly and put off agreeing until last week, when the Hungarian government finally voted to approve the request.

All Nato countries must support a friend if they are attacked.

Mr Blinken remembered that Sweden has had a policy of not picking sides for 200 years. This changed when Russia invaded Ukraine. He said that the expansion of Nato was not something that was decided in advance or easy to predict.

Mr Kristersson said: “We are not bragging, but we are also happy and pleased. ” “We will do everything people expect. ”

“We share our challenges, duties, and dangers with other friends. ”

He said that the security in the area is very bad, like it was during World War Two. He also said that Sweden is joining Nato for security reasons.

Finland officially joined the alliance last April, making the border with Russia twice as long.

On Monday, there will be a ceremony to raise Sweden’s flag at the Nato headquarters in Brussels.