United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expressed on Wednesday Washington's hope Sweden will become a full member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) before its summit that will take place in Vilnius, Lithuania, on July 11 and 12.
Ednews reports that Austin made those remarks during his visit to Musko Naval Base near Stockholm, where he met with his Swedish counterpart Pal Jonson (pictured right).
Austin stressed the US will keep advocating for Sweden's membership as that country would "add a lot of value to NATO, our overall effort, you have a very, a highly professional military and you've invested a lot in modernization over the last several years."