Sweden set to join NATO after Hungary OKs bid
Sweden on Monday cleared its final obstacle to joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) after Hungary’s parliament ratified the bid in what the Nordic country’s prime minister called a “historic day,” while other alliance members expressed relief at the move spurred by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Sweden would make the alliance “stronger and safer” while the United States, the alliance’s main power, as well as the United Kingdom and Germany, welcomed Stockholm’s now-imminent accession.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said having Sweden in NATO “strengthens our defense alliance and with it the security of Europe and the world.”
Russia’s invasion two years ago prompted Sweden and neighboring Finland to apply to join the trans-Atlantic bloc, ending their long-standing stance of nonalignment.
Every NATO member has to approve a new country, however, and Hungary’s vote ended more than a year of delays that frustrated the other 31 nations as Ukraine battled Russian troops.
Finland joined last April, but Sweden’s bid was stalled by both Hungary and Turkey, with Ankara approving Stockholm’s candidacy only last month.
Hungary then followed, with 188 parliament members voting in favor and six far-right deputies against.
“Today is a historic day ... Sweden stands ready to shoulder its responsibility for Euro-Atlantic security,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on X, formerly Twitter.
Speaking about Russia’s potential reaction, Kristersson told a news conference: “The only thing we can expect with any certainty is that they don’t like Sweden becoming a member of NATO, nor Finland.”
‘Mutual good intentions’
Going forward, “Nordic countries will have a common defense for the first time in 500 years ... we remain friends, and we become allies,” he said.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban had long stalled Sweden’s membership but told parliament it would “strengthen Hungary’s security.”
Though repeatedly saying it supported Swedish membership in principle, Hungary kept prolonging the process, asking Stockholm to stop “vilifying” the Hungarian government.
After a meeting between the nationalist Orban and Kristersson in Budapest last Friday, the Hungarian leader announced that the two had clarified “our mutual good intentions.”
Hungary also signed a deal to acquire four Swedish-made fighter jets, expanding its fleet of 14 Jas39 Gripen fighters.
Hungary’s president is expected to sign the law within days. Sweden, which has been militarily neutral for two centuries, will then be invited to accede to the Washington Treaty and officially become NATO’s 32nd member.
All Baltic nations except Russia will now be part of the alliance.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni of Italy, which currently presides over the Group of Seven group of industrialized democracies, said Sweden’s entry “reinforced NATO for the defense of peace and freedom on the European continent.”
Alongside its move into NATO, Sweden signed an accord in December that gives the US access to 17 Swedish military bases.
The looming membership has been accompanied by a toughening of declarations by its leaders. General Per Micael Buden, commander-inchief of the Swedish military, said in January that Swedish people “must mentally prepare for war.”
“It is the last piece of the puzzle in the NATO map for Northern Europe,” said Robert Dalsjo, an analyst for the Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI).
People in Sweden mainly cheered the approval.
Jimmy Dahllof, 35, said Sweden would be “safer ... bringing us closer to our European neighbors.”
“I am very relieved because we have been waiting so long,” said Ingrid Lindskrog, a 73-year-old pensioner.