Sweden officially became part of the NATO alliance Thursday, two years after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused the nation to overhaul its non-alignment policy.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is in Washington, D.C. to formally join NATO and he is expected to attend President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Thursday evening.

“NATO SG Stoltenberg has just informed me that all NATO member states have accepted our accession protocol, and has invited Sweden to accede to the North Atlantic Treaty. Sweden will soon be NATO’s 32nd member,” the Swedish Prime Minister’s office said on X. Hungary ratified Sweden’s ascension into the alliance last week, becoming the final NATO country to do so.

The nordic country applied for NATO membership in May 2022, about three months after Russia began its war in Ukraine. Finland and Sweden becoming part of NATO strengthen the alliance to 32-members strong and

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom, and Kristersson held a meeting Thursday morning to welcome Sweden into NATO and reflect on how Putin’s invasion of Ukraine caused a dramatic shift in Sweden’s national security policy.

“This is a historic moment for Sweden. It’s historic for our alliance. It’s historic for our transatlantic relationship. Our NATO alliance, a defensive alliance, is now stronger and larger than it’s ever been,” Blinken said.

“Swedes realized something very profound, that if Putin was willing to try to erase one neighbor from the map, then he might well not stop there. And if he was allowed to proceed with impunity, not only would his aggression potentially continue, but would-be aggressors everywhere would get the message that it was open season.”

The ascension of Sweden into NATO reflects the weakening of Russia and resilience of the international order, Blinken asserted.