Hungary votes to let Sweden into NATO

Putin-aligned leader Orban relents after new shipment of fighter jets

Hungary’s parliament voted Monday to accept Sweden as a new member of NATO, sealing a major shift in the balance of power between the West and Russia set off by war in Ukraine.

The vote allowed Sweden, which has long been nonaligned, to clear the final hurdle that had blocked its membership in NATO and held up the expansion of the military alliance.

Hungary’s authoritarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, whose Fidesz party has a large majority in parliament, has maintained cordial relations with President Vladimir Putin of Russia despite the war in Ukraine and had stalled for 19 months on putting Sweden’s NATO membership to a vote in the 199-member legislature.

His decision to finally allow a vote followed a visit to Budapest, the Hungarian capital, on Friday by Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson. During the visit, it was announced Sweden would provide Hungary with four Swedish-made Gripen jets in addition to the 14 its air force already uses, and that the maker of the jets, Saab, would open an artificial intelligence research center in Hungary.

The formal admission of Sweden to NATO still requires some procedural paperwork. Once finalized, it will, along with Finland’s entry last year, give a significant boost to NATO’s military strength in the Baltic Sea and reduce Russia’s ability to dominate the waterway, which controls access to ports in St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad and UstLuga, an important transit point for Russian energy exports.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed Hungary’s decision, saying “Sweden’s membership will make us all stronger and safer.”

Sweden has been providing weapons and other support to Ukraine, so its membership in NATO won’t immediately change Ukraine’s fortunes on the battlefield, but it delivers a grave blow to what Putin declared as one of his principal reasons for his fullscale invasion — keeping NATO away from Russia’s borders.

The Hungarian parliament endorsed Sweden’s admission to the alliance by a large majority, with only six members from a far-right party, Our Homeland Movement, voting against. The Fidesz party and mainstream opposition groups all voted in favor.

The overwhelming vote in favor of NATO’s expansion followed the visit to Budapest by Kristersson that Orban said had repaired strained relations between the countries and made it possible for Hungary to accept Sweden as a member of NATO.

Hungary’s long delay in accepting Sweden puzzled and exasperated the United States and other NATO members, raising questions about Hungary’s reliability as a member of an alliance committed to the principle of collective defense.

Hungary, which had repeatedly promised not to be the last holdout, became the final obstacle to Swedish entry into NATO after the Turkish parliament voted Jan. 23 to approve membership. All other NATO members approved Sweden’s bid in 2022, just months after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Orban has a long record of using his country’s veto power over key decisions in Europe to try to extract money or other rewards. That pattern was on display during not only his foot-dragging over Sweden’s NATO membership but also his opposition to a European Union financial package for Ukraine worth $54 billion.