BRUSSELS (NEWSnet/AP) — Sweden’s national flag was raised at NATO headquarters on Monday, cementing the Nordic country’s place as the 32nd member.

Under a steady rain, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Crown Princess Victoria and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg looked on as two soldiers raised the blue banner emblazoned with a yellow cross among the official circle of national flags at the headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

[Earlier Report: Sweden Joins NATO, Ending Decades of Neutrality]

“The Russian, brutal, full-scale invasion against Ukraine united Sweden behind the conclusion that a full-fledged NATO membership is the only reasonable choice,” Kristersson said. Swedish government ministers and party leaders from across the political spectrum attended in a show of national unity.

Sweden set aside decades of post-World War II neutrality when it formally joined NATO last Thursday. Its neighbor Finland had already joined in April 2023 in another historic move ending years of military nonalignment.

President Vladimir Putin’s decision to order Russian troops into Ukraine in February 2022 triggered an about-face in public opinion in both countries and within three months they had applied to join the world’s biggest security organization.

The flag-raising ceremony came as 20,000 troops from 13 countries began NATO drills in the high north of new member Sweden as well as its neighbors Finland and Norway.

The Nordic drill is part of wider exercises called Steadfast Defender 24, NATO’s largest in decades, with up to 90,000 troops taking part over several months to show any adversary that the alliance can defend all of its territory from North America up to its borders with Russia.

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