Sweden officially joins NATO as alliance’s 32nd member

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Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Secretary of State Antony Blinken holding Sweden's NATO Instruments of Accession. Associated Press/Photo by Jess Rapfogel

Sweden officially joins NATO as alliance’s 32nd member

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Thursday formally delivered accession documents to the U.S. State Department to join the military alliance. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken accepted the documents and officially welcomed Sweden into NATO during a ceremony. Sweden and Finland applied to join the alliance after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. While Finland joined NATO last year, Turkey and Hungary delayed their approval for Sweden to become a member until recently. NATO officials will host a flag-raising ceremony in Brussels on Monday to formally welcome Sweden into the alliance.

How does NATO membership benefit Sweden? Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty states that the alliance will consider an attack on one of its members as an attack on all of them and will respond with military support. NATO has only invoked the article once in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the United States. The White House in a statement said that having Sweden and Finland in the alliance will strengthen all of its members.

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Lauren Canterberry

Lauren Canterberry is a reporter for WORLD. She graduated from the World Journalism Institute and the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism, both in 2017. She worked as a local reporter in Texas and now lives in Georgia with her husband.