Yes, US President Joe Biden was clearly pleased and pleased when he described the importance of Sweden and Finland to NATO.
Flanked by President Sauli Niinistö and Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, he emphasized that Sweden and Finland make NATO stronger and that the United States totally supports the countries' entry into the defense alliance.
For Sweden, a NATO membership means a completely new phase in the relationship with the United States, a relationship that will now be deepened on several levels.
Going from partner to full-fledged ally is a big change, also for Sweden, which has 200 years of alliance freedom behind it.
Seasoned with US criticism
Since the late 1960s, this freedom of alliance has often been spiced up with criticism of US action on the world stage.
This has led to a relationship with the United States that has at times been frosty.
In recent years, however, Sweden has become increasingly closer to both the United States and NATO.
In light of this, NATO membership can be seen as a logical consequence.
President Biden's tone when Magdalena Andersson and Sauli Niinistö visited indicated that both Sweden and Finland now have a completely new position in the eyes of the United States.
This means that Sweden in a completely different way than before can count on the backing of the United States, but it can also mean future pressure on Sweden to participate in military operations that we would not otherwise want to be part of.
Want to show Russian failure
The President's, seemingly unreserved support for the two candidate countries is also an important signal to the outside world in the current serious security policy situation.
It is both about NATO now being expanded, but also about putting the picture of Russia's failure.
The Russian demands during the invasion of Ukraine were, among other things, that NATO would not take in more members.
After a couple of months, two previously non-aligned countries have completely changed and submitted their membership applications - contrary to Russian requirements.
These are two new NATO members with decently strong defenses, a stable economy and democracy.
Finland has a large and well-equipped army, Sweden an advanced air force, an important defense industry and - not least - state-of-the-art submarine technology.
Great strategic importance
In addition, there are two countries of great strategic importance.
With Finland and Sweden in NATO, the Baltic Sea will in practice become a NATO inland sea.
This creates greater opportunities for NATO to secure the northern flank, to protect the Baltic states and to make Russian naval activities in the Baltic Sea more difficult.
Joe Biden's statements on Thursday are also a signal to NATO's 30 member states to speed up the ratification process.
Only when this is clear will the mutual defense guarantees enter into force.
Until then, the United States and several other heavy NATO countries promise to protect Sweden and Finland if a crisis arises.
Turkey creates insecurity
However, Turkey's objections to Sweden and Finland create uncertainty about the membership process.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg hopes that the issue will be resolved within a few weeks.
But no one knows for sure.
Statements from the Swedish side are likely to be required, which President Erdogan can interpret as concessions.
This may, for example, concern the view of the terrorist group PKK or openings regarding Swedish arms exports to Turkey.
In this situation, Erdogan may also want to bring other issues into the discussion.
The United States has also stopped arms deals with Turkey.
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Listen to Joe Biden and Magdalena Andersson after the meeting.
Photo: AP