Military Hans Högman
Copyright © Hans Högman 2024-06-21

Sweden Joins NATO in March 2024

Sweden Joins NATO

On Thursday, March 7, 2024, Sweden joined NATO as its 32nd member state. When Hungary, as the last country to approve Sweden's application, deposited its protocol in Washington D.C. on March 7th, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg immediately sent an invitation to Sweden that Sweden was now ready to join NATO. The Swedish government accepted the invitation and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who was already in Washington D.C., then signed Sweden's accession documents. Just over an hour later, PM Ulf Kristersson and the Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström handed over the accession documents to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. Thus, Sweden officially joined NATO as its 32nd member state. The image above shows the NATO flag.

Sweden’s Path to NATO

During the Cold War, Sweden chose to remain outside NATO. The Social Democrats, Sweden's largest political party, were opposed to Swedish NATO membership and thus there was no majority in the Parliament (Riksdag) for Sweden to join NATO. Sweden and Finland were thus the only countries in northern Europe not to join NATO. The image shows the Flag of Sweden. Following Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014, the case for Swedish membership has been growing. However, it was mainly after Russia launched an unprovoked war of aggression on its neighboring Ukraine on 24 February 2022 that the Swedish population's opinion on Swedish NATO membership changed. The same debate has been going on in our neighboring country Finland and perhaps more intensely there (sharing a border with Russia). On Thursday, 12 May 2022, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced that Finland must apply for NATO membership. The application was signed on 18 May. For several months prior to this, the Swedish and Finnish governments had been discussing NATO membership and holding discussions with other NATO countries. On Monday, May 16, 2022, a NATO debate was held in the Swedish Parliament and there was now a very large majority in the Parliament in favor of joining NATO. On the same day, the then Social Democratic government made the official decision that Sweden would apply for membership in NATO. On Tuesday, May 17, the then Foreign Minister Ann Linde signed Sweden's application for Swedish membership in NATO. The application for NATO membership was jointly submitted by Sweden and Finland to NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg at NATO headquarters in Brussels on 18 May 2022. All 30 NATO countries at the time welcomed Sweden and Finland as members. However, after a few days, Turkey opposed and vetoed Sweden and Finland, taking advantage of the fact that all NATO member states must agree for new countries to join. On June 28, 2022, after two months of negotiations between Sweden, Finland, NATO, and Turkey, Turkey dropped its veto and also welcomed Sweden and Finland into NATO. On July 5, 2022, the ambassadors of the then 30 NATO members signed an accession protocol for Sweden and Finland. Sweden and Finland were granted "Invitee" status. 28 of NATO's 30 member states were very quick to ratify the membership of Sweden and Finland. However, Turkey resisted, citing its domestic political reasons. Hungary also chose to postpone ratification. Turkey later announced that it would ratify Finland but not Sweden at this time. Hungary also announced the same thing. Hungary ratified Finland's NATO application on 27 March 2023 and Turkey on 30 March 2023. On 4 April 2023, Finland was admitted as a full member of NATO.

Turkey and Hungary finally say YES to Sweden

After months of obstruction and constant new demands on Sweden, Turkey finally said YES to Sweden's NATO application. This happened on 10 July 2023. They planned to later ratify Sweden's application in the Turkish parliament. Hungary, which has not yet said YES either, has declared that it will not be the last country to ratify Sweden's application. Finally, on January 25, 2024, President Recep Erdoğan signed the ratification document, completing Turkey's ratification of Sweden's NATO application. On 23 February 2024, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson flew with a Swedish delegation to Budapest, Hungary, for a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Orbán and his Fidesz party announced after the meeting that they were now ready to approve Sweden's NATO application. On March 5, 2024, newly elected Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok signed Sweden's NATO application.

Sweden becomes NATO's 32nd member state on March 7, 2024.

On March 7, 2024, the Foreign Minister of Hungary, being the last NATO country to approve, deposited their approval of Sweden's NATO application with the US State Department. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg then sent a formal invitation to Sweden to become a full member of NATO, which was subsequently accepted by Sweden in an extraordinary government meeting in Stockholm. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Foreign Minister Tobias Billström were already in Washington DC at the time. After the government decision, Ulf Kristersson signed Sweden's accession document. Just over an hour later, Kristersson and Billström handed over the accession document to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. Thus, Sweden became a member of NATO as its 32nd member state. On Monday, 11 March 2024, an official ceremony was held at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, where Sweden was welcomed into NATO and the Swedish flag was raised among the flags of other member states.
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Military Hans Högman
Copyright © Hans Högman 2022-06-21

Sweden Joins NATO

in March 2024

Sweden Joins NATO

On Thursday, March 7, 2024, Sweden joined NATO as its 32nd member state. When Hungary, as the last country to approve Sweden's application, deposited its protocol in Washington D.C. on March 7th, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg immediately sent an invitation to Sweden that Sweden was now ready to join NATO. The Swedish government accepted the invitation and Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who was already in Washington D.C., then signed Sweden's accession documents. Just over an hour later, PM Ulf Kristersson and the Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström handed over the accession documents to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. Thus, Sweden officially joined NATO as its 32nd member state. The image above shows the NATO flag.

Sweden’s Path to NATO

During the Cold War, Sweden chose to remain outside NATO. The Social Democrats, Sweden's largest political party, were opposed to Swedish NATO membership and thus there was no majority in the Parliament (Riksdag) for Sweden to join NATO. Sweden and Finland were thus the only countries in northern Europe not to join NATO. The image shows the Flag of Sweden. Following Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014, the case for Swedish membership has been growing. However, it was mainly after Russia launched an unprovoked war of aggression on its neighboring Ukraine on 24 February 2022 that the Swedish population's opinion on Swedish NATO membership changed. The same debate has been going on in our neighboring country Finland and perhaps more intensely there (sharing a border with Russia). On Thursday, 12 May 2022, Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Prime Minister Sanna Marin announced that Finland must apply for NATO membership. The application was signed on 18 May. For several months prior to this, the Swedish and Finnish governments had been discussing NATO membership and holding discussions with other NATO countries. On Monday, May 16, 2022, a NATO debate was held in the Swedish Parliament and there was now a very large majority in the Parliament in favor of joining NATO. On the same day, the then Social Democratic government made the official decision that Sweden would apply for membership in NATO. On Tuesday, May 17, the then Foreign Minister Ann Linde signed Sweden's application for Swedish membership in NATO. The application for NATO membership was jointly submitted by Sweden and Finland to NATO Secretary- General Jens Stoltenberg at NATO headquarters in Brussels on 18 May 2022. All 30 NATO countries at the time welcomed Sweden and Finland as members. However, after a few days, Turkey opposed and vetoed Sweden and Finland, taking advantage of the fact that all NATO member states must agree for new countries to join. On June 28, 2022, after two months of negotiations between Sweden, Finland, NATO, and Turkey, Turkey dropped its veto and also welcomed Sweden and Finland into NATO. On July 5, 2022, the ambassadors of the then 30 NATO members signed an accession protocol for Sweden and Finland. Sweden and Finland were granted "Invitee" status. 28 of NATO's 30 member states were very quick to ratify the membership of Sweden and Finland. However, Turkey resisted, citing its domestic political reasons. Hungary also chose to postpone ratification. Turkey later announced that it would ratify Finland but not Sweden at this time. Hungary also announced the same thing. Hungary ratified Finland's NATO application on 27 March 2023 and Turkey on 30 March 2023. On 4 April 2023, Finland was admitted as a full member of NATO.

Turkey and Hungary finally say YES to

Sweden

After months of obstruction and constant new demands on Sweden, Turkey finally said YES to Sweden's NATO application. This happened on 10 July 2023. They planned to later ratify Sweden's application in the Turkish parliament. Hungary, which has not yet said YES either, has declared that it will not be the last country to ratify Sweden's application. Finally, on January 25, 2024, President Recep Erdoğan signed the ratification document, completing Turkey's ratification of Sweden's NATO application. On 23 February 2024, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson flew with a Swedish delegation to Budapest, Hungary, for a meeting with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. Orbán and his Fidesz party announced after the meeting that they were now ready to approve Sweden's NATO application. On March 5, 2024, newly elected Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok signed Sweden's NATO application.

Sweden becomes NATO's 32nd member state

on March 7, 2024.

On March 7, 2024, the Foreign Minister of Hungary, being the last NATO country to approve, deposited their approval of Sweden's NATO application with the US State Department. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg then sent a formal invitation to Sweden to become a full member of NATO, which was subsequently accepted by Sweden in an extraordinary government meeting in Stockholm. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Foreign Minister Tobias Billström were already in Washington DC at the time. After the government decision, Ulf Kristersson signed Sweden's accession document. Just over an hour later, Kristersson and Billström handed over the accession document to US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken. Thus, Sweden became a member of NATO as its 32nd member state. On Monday, 11 March 2024, an official ceremony was held at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, where Sweden was welcomed into NATO and the Swedish flag was raised among the flags of other member states.