BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) – Hungary’s parliament is scheduled to vote Monday to ratify Sweden’s bid to join NATO, giving it an 18-member alliance that has frustrated the alliance’s expansion efforts to counter Russia’s wars. It is likely that the delay of more than a month will come to an end. Ukraine.
The Hungarian government submitted a protocol to approve Sweden’s NATO membership in 2022, but the issue has since stalled in parliament due to opposition from ruling party members. Recognizing a new state requires unanimous support from all NATO members, and Hungary is the only one of the alliance’s 31 members that has not expressed its support.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, a right-wing nationalist who has cultivated close ties with Russia, is facing reluctance among members of his Fidesz party as criticism of Hungarian democracy by Swedish politicians has worsened relations between the two countries. He said he became a target.
But Monday’s vote is widely expected to approve Sweden’s membership in NATO, removing the last hurdle since it first applied for membership in May 2022.
Sweden accuses NATO of low gender quotas even though it is not a NATO member https://t.co/mgaoDKCpwL
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) April 17, 2018
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson met with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in the Hungarian capital on Friday and appears to have reached a definitive settlement. After the meeting, the two leaders announced the signing of a defense industry agreement that includes Hungary’s purchase of four Swedish-made JAS 39 Gripen jets and the extension of the service contract for the existing Gripen fleet.
Prime Minister Orbán said the addition of the fighter jets would “significantly increase our military capabilities and further strengthen our role abroad” and improve Hungary’s ability to participate in joint NATO operations.
“Becoming a member of NATO together with other countries means that we are willing to die for each other,” Prime Minister Orbán said. “Defense and military capabilities agreements will help rebuild trust between the two countries.”
Monday’s vote on Sweden’s NATO membership is just one piece of a busy agenda for members of the Hungarian parliament. There will also be a vote on accepting the resignation of President Katalin Novak, who resigned earlier this month amid a scandal over her decision to pardon a man convicted of covering up a series of child sex abuse cases.
After accepting Novak’s resignation, parliamentarians are expected to approve Hungarian Constitutional Court member Tamás Sulhok as the new president.
Some opposition parties have announced that they will not participate in the vote to confirm the new president. But Mr. Suryok was nominated by Mr. Orbán’s Fidesz party, which has a two-thirds majority in parliament and is expected to easily approve him as president.
Sweden’s NATO proposal must be signed by the president for approval to enter into force, but it is unclear when final approval will occur.
Hungary’s allies in NATO and the European Union have increased pressure on Hungary in recent months to drop its opposition to Sweden’s membership. Last weekend, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators visited Hungary and introduced a joint resolution in Congress condemning Hungary’s alleged democratic backsliding and calling on Orbán’s government to immediately lift blocks to Sweden’s transatlantic integration. Then he announced.
