At NATO headquarters in Brussels, the celebration included music performed by the Belgian Air Force Orchestra and the Netherlands Navy Orchestra.
– NATO is bigger, stronger, and more united than ever before, said Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg during the celebration at the headquarters in Brussels.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg together with UK Foreign Minister James Cameron over the original North Atlantic Treaty signed on April 4, 1949.
In connection with the celebration, the original North Atlantic Treaty, signed on April 4, 1949, was displayed.
– Never has a single document, with so few words, meant so much to so many. So much security, prosperity, and peace, said Jens Stoltenberg.
NATO foreign ministers, together with the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, also had meetings with NATO partners in the Pacific region, Australia, Japan, South Korea, and New Zealand, to discuss common interests in security and values.
Additionally, they also met with Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba for talks in the NATO-Ukraine Council, to discuss long-term support for Ukraine.
– It is very gratifying to be able to participate for the first time in NATO's foreign ministers' meeting as a full member. As an ally, we are now part of NATO's decision-making on policies and choices in matters of crucial importance to Sweden. I look forward to discussions on important issues with my colleagues, said Foreign Minister Tobias Billström in a press release from the Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
In connection with the meeting, Tobias Billström wrote a joint guest column together with UK Foreign Minister David Cameron in the magazine Foreign Policy.
In the text, they write, among other things, that "[w]e must prepare NATO for a prolonged confrontation with Russia".
On the same day, the Swedish and Finnish flags were also unveiled in the NATO corridor at the Pentagon.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy, Lisa Sawyer, and Deputy Head of the Swedish Mission in the USA, Jonas Wendel, unveil the Swedish flag in the 'NATO corridor' at the Pentagon. Photo: US Air Force Staff Sgt. John Wright / DoD
– The core of the alliance is a sacred promise - one that we reaffirm today - that an attack on one is an attack on all, said Lisa C. Sawyer, Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and NATO Policy during a ceremony to unveil the flags, according to a press release from the Pentagon.
– To the nations of Sweden and Finland: you now have a commitment from the USA and 30 other allies to come to your defense if you need it, and we know that we have you, she said.
Jonas Wendel, Deputy Head of the Swedish Mission in the USA, said that Sweden's membership, together with Finland's, will create a more predictable geopolitical outlook and contribute to peace and stability throughout Europe.