Hungary votes to approve Sweden’s NATO membership
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson is assembly with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, as Hungary stays the final NATO member to not ratify Sweden’s bid to hitch NATO, on (Photograph by Balint Szentgallay/NurPhoto by way of Getty Photos)
Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Photos
Hungary on Monday voted to approve Sweden’s NATO accession bid, ending months of diplomatic negotiations and finalizing Stockholm’s membership nearly two years after it first utilized to hitch the navy alliance.
Hungarian lawmakers voted in favor of Sweden’s membership after overcoming long-standing opposition from governing celebration members led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
The Scandinavian nation will develop into the thirty second NATO member, coming below the fold of Article 5 of the treaty, which vows that an assault on one member is an assault on all of them.
Sweden utilized to hitch NATO in Could 2022 — at the same time as Finland — in a historic overhaul of its coverage of navy nonalignment following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Its accession expands NATO’s presence in Northern Europe, because the alliance seeks to bolster its defenses.
Whereas a overwhelming majority of NATO members backed Stockholm’s bid from its early days, Orban was resistant amid Swedish criticism over Hungary’s democracy. NATO requires unanimous help from all members earlier than permitting a brand new admission.
In a gathering in Budapest, Hungary, on Friday, Orban and his Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson, vowed to beat their variations and famous that they had been “ready to die for one another.”
The international locations additionally signed a navy pact, through which Sweden agreed to promote 4 new Gripen planes.
26 February 2024, Hungary, Budapest: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (r) speaks in the course of the parliamentary session earlier than the vote on the ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership.
Marton Monus | Image Alliance | Getty Photos
“To be a member of NATO along with one other nation means we’re able to die for one another,” Orban mentioned Friday, in keeping with The Related Press. “A deal on protection and navy capacities helps to reconstruct the belief between the 2 international locations.”
Hungary’s vote in help of Stockholm follows that of Turkey, the opposite remaining holdout, which agreed final month to ratify Sweden’s membership following a yearlong delay over safety considerations. Ankara had accused Stockholm of being too lenient towards teams it views as threats, together with Kurdish militants and members of a community that it blames for a failed coup in 2016.
