Sweden is now officially a NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) member, while Russia has insisted that NATO’s continued expansion poses a threat to its national security and is destabilizing Europe.

Sweden has officially become the 32nd member of the United States-led NATO military bloc after the document formalizing Stockholm’s accession entered into force on Thursday. Moscow has pointed out that it did not have any issues with the two Scandinavian countries before they decided to join the US-led bloc, but Russia will now be forced to respond by “reorganizing and strengthening” its armed forces in the region.

The “accession ceremony” will be held in Washington, where Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will submit his country’s documents to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, according to a report by RT. 

A document published by the US Department of State asserts that all conditions for Sweden’s entry into NATO have been fulfilled and that the protocol signifying Stockholm’s membership entered into force on March 7, 2024.

In a post on X, Kristersson also declared that NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg had informed him that all bloc members have formally accepted Sweden’s accession protocol and had invited Stockholm to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

NATO SG Stoltenberg has just informed me that all NATO member states have accepted our accession protocol, and has invited Sweden to accede to the North Atlantic Treaty. Sweden will soon be NATO’s 32nd member.

— SwedishPM (@SwedishPM) March 7, 2024

Stockholm is set to make a final formal decision on joining the bloc, which will be followed by a news conference. After that, Kristersson is set to issue an address to the nation, according to Swedish Radio.

Sweden and Finland abandoned their longstanding policies of non-alignment and submitted bids to join the US-led military bloc in 2022, citing security concerns following the launch of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.

The two countries’ bids to join had to be ratified by all current bloc members. Hungary and Türkiye initially objected, with Ankara accusing Sweden and Finland of harboring members of armed groups designated as terrorists under Turkish law. -RT

Finland became the 31st member of NATO last year in April.

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