Hungarian parliament is expected to finally vote in favor of Sweden joining NATO, nearly two years after the historically neutral country applied to join the Western military alliance, ending a months-long stalemate. This will put an end to the diplomatic spat.
The vote will take place in Budapest from 4pm to 6pm local time (3pm to 5pm GMT) on Monday, following a meeting between Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Friday. He said that despite their differences, “we were prepared to die for each other.”
The two countries also signed a new military agreement at a warmly staged joint press conference in the Hungarian capital, in which Sweden announced that it would be able to secure 14 aircraft purchased by Hungary to date. The company promised to sell four more Gripen aircraft in addition to the
Last month, Turkey gave its approval to the Nordic countries’ ratification of NATO, making Hungary the last country to do so, despite President Orbán’s assurances that it would not be the last NATO member to sign.
The turnaround came after the leader of the ruling Fidesz parliamentary group last week proposed that the Hungarian parliament take up the issue on Monday, when it reconvenes after the winter break.
Sweden applied to join NATO in May 2022, at the same time as Finland, as part of a historic shift in security policy triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February of the same year. The delay has sparked dissatisfaction among members of Mr Orbán’s alliance, a right-wing nationalist who has forged close ties with Russia.
The vote on Sweden is understood to be the third item on parliament’s agenda for the day, ahead of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s opening speech on spring priorities and President Katalin Novak’s submission of resignation following her recent resignation. It will be carried out subsequently.
If, as expected, parliament votes in favor with a simple majority, the decision will be sent to Hungary’s interim president, László Köbér, who will have five days to sign the decision and send it to the US State Department in Washington. Become. When Finland applied to join NATO at the same time as Sweden in May 2022 and formally joined last July, the process took three days.
Sweden’s application to join NATO was put on hold due to opposition from Turkey and Hungary.
According to the NATO protocol, the ratification of a new country by a member state must be notified to the US government. The Secretary-General then invites the new country to join the treaty, which is then forwarded to the U.S. Department of State, which formally invites the new country to become a NATO member.
After Kristersson’s visit to Budapest, Prime Minister Orbán praised the “new stage of cooperation between Hungary and Sweden.”
Asked by reporters what prompted Sweden to withdraw its opposition to joining NATO, Prime Minister Orban said: “Being a member of NATO means that we are willing to die for each other.” It’s based on mutual respect. It was wise to move that process along at an appropriate pace.”
This marks a landmark moment for Mr Kristersson’s centre-right coalition, backed by the far-right Sweden Democrats, which has been working on the NATO issue since taking over from the Social Democratic Party’s Magdalena Andersson government in 2022. became.
“We respect each other’s differences, and sometimes we reach good compromises,” Christerson said Friday. “We now have the attitude that we are ready to fight for each other in dangerous times. And we are also participating in NATO joint cooperation.”
