Hungary’s president signed Sweden’s application to join NATO on Tuesday, meaning that only details remain before Sweden’s full membership in the defence alliance, TV4 reports.
According to TV4 Nyheterna, the Swedish flag will be raised at NATO headquarters in Brussels next Monday during lunch, marking the start of the alliance’s membership.
Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will be present, as well as Commander-in-Chief Mikael Büden and other senior politicians. Ambassadors of NATO countries will be invited to the ceremony.
On 26 February, the Hungarian parliament voted in favour of Sweden’s admission to NATO. The issue was put up for discussion back in the summer of 2022. Hungary became the last NATO member state to approve Sweden’s application. TV4 News international affairs correspondent Jona Kallgren said after Hungary signed the documents:
“The process has been long, and from the Swedish side it sometimes seemed humiliating and painful. But historically (as Stoltenberg often says) it has been an incredibly fast process. Other countries had to wait much longer to become NATO members. Countries like Ukraine, Moldova or Georgia could only dream of a process as fast as Sweden’s.”
