Hungary’s president signed a bill Tuesday approving the Nordic country’s bid.
Sweden’s arduous path to joining the NATO alliance came to a successful close Thursday, as the Swedish prime minister and foreign minister deposited the country’s « instrument of accession » at the State Department in Washington.
In a lighthearted ceremony, Secretary of State Antony Blinken posed for photos with a blue folder holding the document, and quipped « well, good things come to those who wait. »
« With receipt of this instrument of accession, let me be the very first to welcome Sweden as a party to the Washington Treaty and the 32nd member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, » he continued.
