Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Foreign Minister Tobias Billström left for Washington on Wednesday, where the country is expected to formally join NATO in the coming days.

Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Foreign Minister Tobias Billström travelled to Washington on Wednesday for bilateral meetings with the US administration and meetings with members of Congress, according to a government press release.

For many experts, this trip indicates that the Swedish government is very confident Hungary will deposit its documents in Washington on Thursday, thereby allowing Sweden to become a full member of NATO after Swedish officials deposit their accession papers.

On Tuesday, Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok signed Sweden’s NATO application, ending a two-year delay since Stockholm announced its bid in the spring of 2022 after neighbouring Russia invaded Ukraine.

Hungary is the last NATO member to greenlight Sweden’s accession to the Western military alliance. It had been holding back because it viewed Stockholm as taking its NATO accession for granted, and objected to the allegations of rule of law violations Sweden levelled at Budapest.

Norway’s biennial Cold Response military exercise — now called “Nordic Response” due to Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership — will take place from 3-14 March in northern Norway and involves more than 20,000 troops from 13 allied nations.

The trip to Washington comes on the same day two American bombers flew over Stockholm. The planes — a B-1B and a B-52 — were escorted by two Swedish Gripen fighter jets to eventually join the NATO exercise Nordic Response, the Swedish Armed Forces indicated on their website.

According to the Swedish Armed Forces, the exercise has been planned “for a long time”, and it is common for Sweden to collaborate with other countries on military exercises.

Once Sweden becomes a member of the transatlantic military alliance, integrating the country into NATO’s defence and deterrence plans will begin. Still, it could take years before Sweden fully integrates. (Charles Szumski | Euractiv.com)

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