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Sweden has officially become the 32nd state to join NATO after it completed its accession process in Washington.

The handover of documents took place at a ceremony two years after Sweden applied to join the military alliance following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Swedish PM Ulf Kristersson said that “unity and solidarity” would be Sweden’s “guiding lights”.

NATO today “is stronger than ever,” President Joe Biden said.

“NATO stands more united, determined, and dynamic” Joe Biden said, adding that “together with our newest ally Sweden – NATO will continue to stand for freedom and democracy for generations to come.”

“This has been a little bit of a road but we’ve known from day one that we would be here one day,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

Image source: NATO

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg posted on X that Sweden brings with it “capable armed forces and a first-class defence industry” and that the alliance had become “stronger and safer”.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky also welcomed Sweden’s accession to NATO, saying “one more country in Europe has become more protected from Russian evil.”

Russia has vowed to take unspecified political and military measures in response to Sweden’s move.

Sweden applied to join the defense alliance after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – but its request was blocked by two members.

Turkey initially withheld approval in a row over what it called Sweden’s support to Kurdish separatists. It eventually lifted its veto in January of this year.

Hungary’s PM Viktor Orban accused Sweden of being hostile to it and delayed its approval until last week, when the Hungarian parliament eventually voted to ratify the bid.

All NATO members are expected to help an ally which comes under attack.

Anthony Blinken recalled Sweden’s 200-year policy of non-alignment which lasted until Russia invaded Ukraine, saying that NATO expansion was not “foreordained” or “foreseeable”.

Finland formally joined in April 2023, doubling the length of the alliance’s border with Russia.

On March 11, a flag-raising ceremony to mark Sweden’s accession will take place at the NATO headquarters in Brussels.

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Montenegro has been invited to join NATO, in its first expansion for six years.

The decision, described by NATO head Jens Stoltenberg as “historic”, comes 16 years after the alliance bombed Montenegro during the Kosovo war, when it was still part of Yugoslavia.

Russia has reacted to the news. Montenegro’s accession would result in “retaliatory actions”, said a spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Accession talks are expected to take about a year to complete.Montenegro NATO

The invitation to Montenegro is NATO’s first expansion into Eastern Europe since Albania and Croatia joined in 2009.

The mountainous Adriatic state of 650,000 people has a small military with about 2,000 active members.

NATO diplomats say it sends a message to Russia that it cannot veto the alliance’s expansion – but Russia has said it will retaliate.

“The continued eastward expansion of NATO and NATO’s military infrastructure cannot but result in retaliatory actions from the east, i.e. from the Russian side, in terms of ensuring security and supporting the parity of interests,” Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Dmitry Peskov added that it was too early to specify what the retaliatory actions would be.

Montenegrins themselves remain divided over joining.

Many remain angry that NATO bombed Serbia and Montenegro in 1999 as part of a strategy to halt the killing and expulsion of ethnic Albanians in Serbia’s then southern province of Kosovo.

Montenegro has also seen an influx of Russian money, homebuyers and tourists since splitting from Serbia in 2006.

Milo Djukanovic’s government – which is in favor of joining – has resisted calls from some opposition parties for a referendum on the issue.

However, NATO diplomats point to polls that suggest public opinion is narrowly in favor of joining.

Besides Montenegro and Georgia, the other current candidates for NATO membership are Bosnia and Herzegovina and Macedonia.

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