WATCH: Sweden officially joins NATO
PBS NewsHourMar 05
The Facts
Sweden formally joined NATO on Thursday, as Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson handed over the country's instrument of accession to the US Dept. of State — the treaty depository for the Alliance.
A flag-hoisting ceremony will take place Monday at the NATO headquarters in Brussels to welcome Sweden as its 32nd member.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
NATO has finally added Sweden's military and technological prowess to the international security bloc. Sweden is home to one of the biggest air forces in Europe, one of the leading 5G network manufacturing companies, and a robust public-private tech industry. The West is facing dangerous threats from the East, but some worries over security at least should be mitigated now that Sweden is part of the Atlantic Alliance.
Establishment-critical narrative
The US and its European proxies seem to have no care for world peace. After decades of NATO expansion eastward, Russia was finally forced to stop asking and start fighting. Now that the Western military establishment has gotten the war it's sought for at least 15 years — at the expense of 400K Ukrainian soldiers and 10K civilians — the bloc continues to push eastward and further antagonize Moscow. NATO expansion is a proven cause of war, so why do they keep doing it?