Sweden became the 32nd member of NATO

Sweden officially became a member of the North Atlantic Alliance. The protocol on the attachment of the country to NATO entered into force, the US State Department said .

On March 7, the Swedish government at an extraordinary meeting approved an invitation to join NATO. After that, the country's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, who is in Washington, signed documents on the accession of Sweden to the Alliance and transferred them to the US State Department. He also made a special appeal to the nation.

Sweden became the 32nd country that joined the alliance. According to Politico, on March 11, the flag of Sweden will raise the flag of Sweden in front of the headquarters of the Alliance in Brussels.

After Sweden was accepted to the Baltic Sea Alliance, along which the oil trade routes are held for Russia and where the Baltic Fleet of the Russian Federation is based, it became almost the NATO internal sea, the Financial Times notes .

• Sweden applied for joining NATO along with Finland in May 2022, shortly after a full -scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Prior to this, the country adhered to neutrality for about 200 years.
• To join NATO, it is necessary that the application of the Candidate country is approved by all participants in the alliance. The application of Finland was approved by all NATO members and the country entered the Alliance in April 2023.
• Sweden entered NATO was opposed by Turkey and Hungary, putting forward conditions to the allies. Ankara, among other things, demanded from Stockholm to give out people whom the Turkish authorities accuse of terrorism, as well as “prevent the activities” of the Kurdistan working party, declared in Turkey a terrorist organization. Budapest, in turn, reproached Stockholm in the politics of the “denigration” of Hungary and regular comments on the country's retreat from the norms of the rule of law.
• As a result, the Turkish parliament voted to ratify the protocol on the adoption of Sweden in NATO at the end of January 2024. Soon this document was signed by Turkish President Recep Erdogan. Hungary parliament approved Sweden's application at the end of February. On March 5, Hungarian President Tamash Shuyok signed a law on ratification of an agreement on Sweden entry into NATO.

Listen to the release of the podcast “What happened” about the expansion of NATO after the start of the war in Ukraine