International Courant
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will chair the flag-raising ceremony in Brussels.
The Swedish flag has been raised at NATO headquarters in Brussels to mark the nation’s entry into the army alliance, two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and NATO Secretary Normal Jens Stoltenberg watched as two troopers raised the blue flag with a yellow cross between the official circle of nationwide flags on the transatlantic group’s places of work within the Belgian capital on Monday.
Earlier than the flag-raising ceremony within the rain, Kristersson stated expectations had been “excessive”.
“We selected you, and also you selected us. All for one, and one for all,” the prime minister stated, including that his nation was a “proud” member and vowing to uphold the values enshrined within the Washington treaty that created NATO.
“The safety state of affairs in our area has not been this critical since World Struggle II, and Russia will stay a menace to Euro-Atlantic safety for the foreseeable future,” Kristersson stated.
For his half, Stoltenberg stated Sweden changing into the alliance’s thirty second member reveals Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “failure” in his Ukrainian struggle technique to weaken the alliance.
“When President Putin launched his full-scale invasion two years in the past, he wished much less NATO and extra management over his neighbors. He wished to destroy Ukraine as a sovereign state, however he failed,” Stoltenberg stated, including that Ukraine is “nearer to NATO than ever earlier than.”
The ceremony happened as 20,000 troops from 13 international locations started NATO workouts within the far north of Sweden and in neighboring Finland and Norway.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022 prompted Sweden and Finland, which shares a 1,340 km border with Russia, to finish years of army non-alignment and apply to hitch the the United States-led alliance.
Whereas Finland joined in April 2023, Sweden’s accession to NATO took nearly two years as Turkey and Hungary blocked the method that requires the unanimous help of all members.
The Turkish parliament gave its formal consent in January and Hungary’s final week.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken described the accession on Thursday as a “historic second for Sweden, for our alliance and for the transatlantic relationship”.
“Good issues come to those that wait,” Blinken stated as he obtained Sweden’s accession paperwork in Washington DC.
NATO members have lent their army and monetary help to Ukraine in its struggle in opposition to Russian forces, however momentum is waning as US political will falters and Europe struggles to fulfill Ukraine’s ammunition wants.
Sweden has well-trained and geared up armed forces. It additionally provides superior submarines and a large fleet of domestically produced Gripen fighter jets to NATO forces and would offer a vital hyperlink between the Atlantic Ocean and the Baltic Sea.
Flag of NATO’s thirty second member, Sweden, hoisted at alliance headquarters | Information
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