Sweden Prepares For The NATO Era

Seamstress Tove Lycke works on a NATO flag at a workshop near Stockholm, Sweden. 

Sweden formally joined NATO on March 7, two years after applying to join the military alliance in the wake of Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. 

An empty flagpole in the court of honor at NATO's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. 

An official ceremony that will add Sweden's flag to NATO's current 31-country lineup is due to take place at the Brussels facility on March 11. 

Finnish soldiers on a training drill with Swedish troops during NATO's Nordic Response exercise in Hetta, Finland, on March 5.

Both Sweden and Finland, which joined NATO in April 2023, walked away from long-standing policies of military neutrality after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

 

An American Lancer (center left), and Stratofortress (center right) escorted by two Swedish Gripen fighter jets fly over Stockholm on March 6. 

The flight that passed over the Swedish capital was part of a joint exercise between the U.S. and Swedish militaries. 

 

An air crew preparing a Gripen jet for takeoff at an air base in northern Sweden on March 4. 

Swedes were largely opposed to the prospect of NATO membership until the Russian invasion of Ukraine. A poll taken in the days after the invasion found 41 percent of Swedes in favor of joining the alliance, while 35 percent were opposed and the rest of respondents were unsure. 

A Swedish Marine looks toward a U.S. warship during a joint training exercise on March 1.  

Much of the groundwork for Sweden's NATO membership was completed during Stockholm's long accession process. 

A Swedish assault boat approaches a U.S. warship during an exercise on February 29. 

In late 2023, Stockholm and Washington signed an agreement giving the U.S. military access to Swedish bases and allowing the storage of weapons and ammunition in the Nordic country.

Swedish soldiers take part in the changing of the guard ceremony in front of Stockhom's royal palace on March 7. 

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement on the same day that Sweden's membership "makes NATO stronger, Sweden safer, and the whole alliance more secure," and added, "I look forward to raising their flag at NATO HQ on Monday [March 11]." 

A Swedish Marine stands on the deck of an assault boat off the coast of Norway during a joint exercise on March 1. 

Russia has accused NATO of looking to stoke conflict over territory in the Arctic. Konstantin Kosachev, the deputy speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament, said that Sweden's NATO accession was "a dangerous step by once sober-minded Swedish elites, a step that may turn out to be fatal." 

Swedish soldiers during a military exercise near Stockholm on February 27. 

The Nordic country has around 24,000 active personnel in its military, and some 33,000 reservists.