The flag will be raised: Media outlets name date when Sweden will officially become a NATO member

The official ceremony of Sweden's accession to NATO is supposedly scheduled for Monday, March 11. That's when the Swedish flag will be raised alongside the flags of other member states in front of the North Atlantic Alliance's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

The ceremony is scheduled for Monday afternoon, TV4 Nyheterna reported. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Mikael Büden and other leading politicians are expected to arrive in Belgium that day.

NATO ambassadors will also be present. A press conference is scheduled to follow the official ceremonies.

To recap: Sweden, along with Finland, decided to join NATO after February 24, 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The applications were submitted on May 15-16. On July 5, the countries gained official status as potential members of the military bloc.

Sweden's application to NATO was approved by the Turkish parliament only on January 23, 2024. Hungary's application was approved on February 26, 2024.

"The process has been long, and for Sweden it sometimes seemed humiliating and painful. But historically, as Stoltenberg often says, it was an incredibly fast process. Other countries have had to wait much longer to become members," said TV4 Nyhetern foreign correspondent Jona Kellgren.

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, on March 5, on his first day in office, the newly elected President of Hungary Tamás Szuik signed the protocol on ratification of Sweden's accession to NATO.

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