Sweden becomes the 32nd country to join NATO. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson deposited the accession documents in Washington.
Sweden's accession is attractive for strategic reasons because it means the entire Baltic Sea coast is NATO territory. For example, the defense of the Baltics could be made easier in the event of a Russian attack because troops and equipment could be transported much more easily by ship via Sweden to Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. The Swedish military has around 120 Leopard 2 tanks, which are called Stridsvagn 122.