Sweden’s flag raised at NATO headquarters, cementing its place as the 32nd alliance member

Sweden joins NATO as 32nd member, solidifying security alliance amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Sweden’s national flag was raised at NATO headquarters on March 11, cementing the Nordic country’s place as the 32nd member two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine persuaded its reluctant public to seek safety under the alliance’s security umbrella.

Under a steady rain, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Crown Princess Victoria and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg looked on as two soldiers raised the blue banner emblazoned with a yellow cross among the official circle of national flags at the headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

“The Russian, brutal, full-scale invasion against Ukraine united Sweden behind the conclusion that a full-fledged NATO membership is the only reasonable choice,” Kristersson said. Swedish government ministers and party leaders from across the political spectrum attended in a show of national unity.

Sweden set aside decades of post-World War II neutrality when it formally joined NATO last Thursday. Its neighbor Finland had already joined in April 2023 in another historic move ending years of military nonalignment.

Finland's defense ministry welcomed “our brothers and sisters in arms” on X, formerly Twitter, saying “now we stand at the beginning of a new era. Together and with other allies in peace, in crisis and beyond.”

President Vladimir Putin’s decision to order Russian troops into Ukraine in February 2022 triggered an about-face in public opinion in both countries and within three months they had applied to join the world’s biggest security organization.

Putin claimed to have launched the war, at least in part, over NATO’s eastward expansion toward Russia but the war had an adverse effect, pushing more countries to join the alliance. NATO leaders have promised that Ukraine itself will join one day, although almost certainly not while the conflict rages on.