Officially joined

Two years after application: Sweden now in NATO

With Sweden, the whole of Scandinavia is now represented in NATO.

(Bild: AFP)

Sweden officially joined NATO on Thursday after long resistance from Turkey and Hungary. The accession documents were handed over at the US State Department in Washington by Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. Russia is correspondingly annoyed and is already threatening "countermeasures".

After two centuries of neutrality, Sweden became the 32nd member of the alliance on Thursday, the US government also announced. The accession was preceded by an almost two-year blockade by Turkey and Hungary against the membership application, which was only abandoned after fierce political wrangling.

With Sweden, the whole of Scandinavia is now represented in NATO.

(Bild: AFP)

In a symbolic act on Monday, Sweden's flag is to be hoisted alongside those of the other 31 member states at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

Moscow threatens retaliation
Russia has threatened "countermeasures of a political and military-technical nature" against Sweden's accession to NATO, especially in the event that troops and weapons from the military alliance are deployed in the country. Moscow has not specified what these measures should look like.

The Russian news agency Tass published a commentary by a high-ranking Russian politician who described Sweden as a "danger". The accession was the "most short-sighted decision" in the kingdom's history.

The whole of Scandinavia is now in NATO:

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg spoke of a "historic day". After more than 200 years of non-alignment, Sweden now enjoys the protection granted under Article 5, "the ultimate guarantee for the freedom and security of the Allies", said Stoltenberg. At the same time, Sweden's accession also makes NATO stronger and the entire alliance more secure. The country has powerful armed forces and a first-class defense industry. Kristersson called the accession a "victory for freedom".

Blinken: "Strategic debacle!"
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who accepted the accession documents, spoke of a "strategic debacle" for Russia. Russia's invasion of Ukraine had led to Sweden's accession to NATO, he said. He also emphasized that the military alliance was "stronger and bigger" than it had ever been thanks to the new member. NATO will now consist of 32 allies. That is twice as many as during the Cold War.

In the wake of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Sweden and Finland broke with their decades-long tradition of military non-alignment and applied to join NATO in May 2022. As all NATO states had to approve these applications, a long wait ensued.

Sweden's long ordeal
Turkey and Hungary in particular raised objections to Sweden's accession. Ankara accused Stockholm of having an excessively lax immigration policy and of protecting members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which is banned in Turkey and elsewhere. Budapest accused Stockholm of "denigrating" Hungary, which was a reaction to Swedish criticism of restrictions on the rule of law.

While Finland, which has a land border of around 1,300 kilometers with Russia, received the green light last year and was accepted into the alliance in April, Sweden had to wait much longer. Anti-Islamic actions in Sweden, including the burning of Korans, led to a temporary hardening of the Turkish blockade.

Political concessions brought a breakthrough
The fact that the USA initiated the long-delayed delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Turkey contributed to Ankara's relenting. One of the ways in which Hungarian resistance was overcome was when Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson agreed to increased military cooperation with Hungary during a visit to Budapest. In January, the Turkish parliament ratified Sweden's accession to NATO, followed by the parliament in Budapest in February.