Sweden joined NATO in Washington on Thursday, two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forced it to review its national security policy and decide that supporting the alliance was the best security guarantee for the Scandinavian country, Reuters reported.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson handed over the final documents to the US government on Thursday, the latest step in the long process of joining the military alliance.

Ulf Kristersson said Thursday that Sweden is entering a historic new era of security policy after the country became the 32nd member of the NATO alliance at a ceremony in Washington, DC.

“Unity and solidarity will be the guiding light for Sweden as a NATO member,” Kristersson said in a statement issued in Washington after a meeting with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

“We will share tasks, responsibilities and risks with our allies,” he said.

In fact, the White House previously announced that today, “Sweden will officially join the NATO Alliance on March 7, 2024, in a press release.

“Having Sweden as a NATO ally will make the United States and our allies safer. “NATO is the world’s strongest defense alliance and is as critical to the security of our citizens today as it was 75 years ago, when the Alliance was founded in the wake of the devastating effects of World War II,” the White House said.

Sweden’s flag will fly at NATO headquarters in Brussels on March 11 around noon, marking the official start of the country’s accession to the alliance, the Swedish television company TV4 reported on March 6.

Sweden will become the 32nd member of NATO

The Scandinavian country was last involved in a military conflict during the Napoleonic Wars in the 19th century. But, like its northern neighbor Finland, Sweden decided to abandon its neutrality after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Former Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson announced on May 16, 2022, a day after Finland officially announced that her country would apply to join the North Atlantic Alliance.

“The government decided to inform NATO about Sweden’s desire to become a member of the Alliance. We are leaving an era to enter a new one,” Magdalena Andersson said at the time.

“The government’s assessment is that NATO membership is the best way to protect Sweden’s security in light of the fundamentally changed security environment following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine,” the government said in a statement, adding that the decision was made after consultations with opposition parties.

Both Sweden and Finland signed protocols to join NATO on July 5, 2022, but their acceptance into the alliance was delayed due to objections from Turkey and Hungary. Finland officially joined the alliance in April last year, but its northern neighbor had to wait almost a year.

Although the White House announced that formalities to end Sweden’s NATO membership would be completed on Thursday, the Scandinavian country’s flag is not expected to be raised at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels until Monday in an official ceremony in the Belgian capital.