Sweden cleared its last hurdle to join NATO on Monday as Hungary’s parliament ratified its membership.
“The parliaments of all Nato member states have now voted in favor of Swedish accession to NATO. Sweden stands ready to shoulder its responsibility for Euro-Atlantic security,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said after the vote.
Sweden will formally join NATO once it submits its instrument of accession with the US government.
Hungary was the last holdout, and its approval came just over one month after the Turkish parliament ratified Sweden’s NATO bid. Turkey initially delayed Finland from joining the alliance as well but approved its membership in March 2023.
Hungary delayed its vote on Sweden’s NATO bid over Stockholm’s criticism of the government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. But Orban promised his country would approve the membership after meeting with Kristersson and said the delay gave him time to “rebuild the trust” with Sweden.
Orban also acknowledged that being members of NATO means “we are prepared to die for each other” due to the mutual defense guarantees outlined in Article 5 of the alliance’s treaty, although it doesn’t explicitly require direct military intervention if another member is attacked.
Sweden joining NATO will bring the total number of members of the alliance to 32, twice as many as there were when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. The US and Sweden have already signed a new Defense Cooperation Agreement (DCA) that grants the US access to Swedish military bases.
Not surprising.
Orban was not happy about this deal, but EU has their way to convince him to play ball.
One more jumping onto the Titanic while it’s sinking.
Sweden thinks it is now safe…!
Great news. Thanks, Dave.
One less country Putin will be blackmailing and playing little invading/annexing games with.
Oh, was that supposed to be another red line?
It’s not.