Flag-raising ceremony of Sweden at NATO headquarters to take place on March 11
Jens Stoltenberg and Ulf Kristersson (photo: Getty Images)
The ceremony for the raising of the Swedish flag at NATO headquarters will take place on Monday, March 11, according to the NATO website.
"On Monday, 11 March 2024, a flag-raising ceremony to mark the accession of the Kingdom of Sweden to NATO will take place at NATO Headquarters in Brussels," the announcement said.
During the ceremony, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will address the press.
Sweden's accession to NATO
In 2022, after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Sweden applied for NATO membership. Turkiye and Hungary were initially against this decision. However, after a series of agreements, Ankara eventually agreed.
Hungary remained the last country for a long time that had not ratified Sweden's application, which was the final obstacle for Stockholm.
On February 26, the Hungarian parliament finally ratified Sweden's application to join the Alliance, and on March 5, the newly elected president, Tamás Sulyok, signed the document.
Yesterday, March 7, the US State Department announced that Sweden had officially joined the North Atlantic Alliance. It became the 32nd member of NATO.
