Orban gives in

Hungary ratifies Sweden’s accession to NATO

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban gives in to Sweden's NATO ambitions.(Bild: AP)

Hungary is giving up its resistance to Sweden's NATO membership ambitions. The parliament in Budapest will ratify the Scandinavian country's membership before the end of February. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban had already emphasized in his state of the nation address on Saturday that only a few steps were missing before ratification.

The parliamentary group leader of Orban's Fidesz party, Mate Kocsis, asked parliamentary speaker Laszlo Köver on Tuesday, who had previously been critical of the ratification, to put the ratification on the parliament's agenda for February 26.

The Fidesz parliamentary group, which holds two thirds of the seats in parliament, apparently wants to vote in favor. This would make Hungary the last NATO country to ratify accession.

Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson(Bild: AFP)

Pressure from Hungary's neighbor Poland
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, among others, had previously described it as "unacceptable" that Hungary had blocked Sweden's application and urged swift ratification. "It would be a mistake for a NATO country to block the accession of another country to NATO," said Tusk.

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban gives in on Sweden's NATO ambitions.(Bild: AP)

Sweden has been waiting almost two years to join NATO
In response to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the traditionally non-aligned Sweden applied for NATO membership together with neighboring Finland in May 2022. Finland was able to join the military alliance in April 2023, while Sweden had to wait further due to the blockade by Turkey and Hungary.

Ankara gave the green light for Sweden's accession at the end of January. Budapest had postponed the ratification of Sweden's accession to NATO several times, citing the allegedly "insulting behavior" of Swedish politicians and media towards the Hungarian leadership, among other things. The government of the EU and NATO country maintains close relations with Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.