The Hungarian Parliament approved the bid with 188 votes in favor and 6 votes against.
Budapest:
Hungary’s parliament approved Sweden’s bid to join NATO on Monday, clearing the final hurdle for an expansion of the military alliance spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The vote ends more than a year of delays that have angered NATO partners as Ukraine battles Russian forces.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said it was a “historic day.”
Russia’s February 2022 invasion prompted Sweden and neighboring Finland to apply to join the EU, ending the two countries’ long-standing non-aligned stance.
However, despite Finland becoming the 31st member of the US-led defense alliance last April, Sweden’s bid was put on hold. Türkiye only ratified the deal last month.
Hungary finally followed suit on Monday, with 188 members of parliament voting in favor and six against Sweden joining.
“Today is a historic day… Sweden stands ready to assume its responsibilities for Euro-Atlantic security,” Kristersson said in a statement to X.
Earlier on Monday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor asked other lawmakers to approve Sweden’s bid.
“Swedish-Hungarian military cooperation and Sweden’s membership of NATO will strengthen Hungary’s security,” Orban told parliament.
Before the vote, Orban’s nationalist Fidesz party, which has a two-thirds majority in parliament in its governing coalition with the Christian Democrats, said it would support Sweden’s bid.
All opposition parties except the far-right Our Fatherland movement were in favor of approving the bill.
– NATO’s 32nd member state –
Although Hungary has repeatedly stated that it supports Sweden’s accession in principle, it has continued to prolong the process by asking Stockholm to stop “slandering” the Hungarian government.
Budapest accused Swedish officials of being “keen on attacking Hungary” on rule of law issues.
After Orban and Kristersson met in Budapest on Friday, the Hungarian nationalist leader announced that the two had clarified “our mutual good intentions.”
Hungary also signed a deal to purchase four Swedish-made fighter jets, expanding its existing fleet of 14 Jas-39 Gripen fighter jets.
Now that parliament has approved the Nordic country’s bid, the president is expected to sign it off in the coming days.
Sweden will then be invited to join the Washington Treaty and officially become the 32nd member of NATO.
For its part, Turkey was the last to ratify on March 30, 2023, and Finland became a NATO member on April 4.
-“confrontational behavior”-
After Russia invaded Ukraine, most NATO members were eager to quickly approve Finland and Sweden’s membership applications.
For Sweden, Ankara cited security concerns before ratifying the deal.
In Hungary’s delays, some experts see a strategy to force Brussels to make concessions to unfreeze billions of euros in frozen funds.
Others said it highlighted Orban’s close relationship with the presidents of Russia and Turkey.
For Mate Szalai, an analyst at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice, Orbán is simply performing for a domestic audience.
“Orban wants to go as far as possible without causing serious problems for the transatlantic community and at the same time prove that Hungary is a force to be reckoned with,” he told AFP.
He added that while Hungary’s “confrontational behavior” had not achieved any real results, it could be “good for the ruling Fidesz party in the country”.
“Many of the Hungarian government’s initiatives are aimed at provoking strong opposition in Europe,” Salai said.
“Most criticism of Orbán’s government (from outside Hungary) actually helps Fidesz maintain its popularity in the country.”
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
