Sweden officially joins NATO after delayed process, ending longstanding military neutrality

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 Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, with the two holding a blue folder containing the document. Blinken 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," Blinken continued.