The bid was approved by the Parliament with 188 votes for and six votes against Sweden’s bid.
Sweden Now Part Of NATO: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) added another member as the Hungarian parliament endorsed Sweden’s NATO bid on Monday, February 26, thus clearing the final obstacle for an expansion of the military alliance given Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The bid was approved by the Parliament with 188 votes for and six votes against Sweden’s bid.
Reacting to the development Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that it was a “historic day”.
Ulf Kristersson posted on X: “Today is a historic day. The parliaments of all NATO member states have now voted in favour of Swedish accession to NATO. Sweden stands ready to shoulder its responsibility for Euro-Atlantic security.”
Today is a historic day. The parliaments of all NATO member states have now voted in favour of Swedish accession to NATO. Sweden stands ready to shoulder its responsibility for Euro-Atlantic security.
— SwedishPM (@SwedishPM) February 26, 2024
Earlier on February 17, Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orban announced that the Hungarian parliament can ratify Sweden’s NATO membership when it convenes for its new session later this month, as reported by Al Jazeera.
“It’s good news that our dispute with Sweden will soon be settled,” Orban said in his state-of-the-nation address on Saturday in Budapest as he added, “We are going in the direction that at the start of parliament’s spring session we can ratify Sweden’s accession to NATO.”
In May 2022, Sweden made a dramatic policy change in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by applying to join NATO, reported Al Jazeera.
Hungary was then the only NATO nation that had not approved Sweden’s application while all other members of NATO supported this process.
Turkey was the only other country that had not approved the membership but last month the Turkish parliament approved Sweden’s accession.
In May 2022, Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership soon after Russia launched military operations in Ukraine in 2022. Finland became a NATO member in April 2023.
Orban is considered to be the European leader closest to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Initially, Orban hinted that he was not opposed to Sweden joining the bloc, before working to stall it, according to a CNN report.
NATO is a deterrent intergovernmental military alliance of 31 member states, now 32 with the inclusion of Sweden. Thirty European and two North American countries are its members. NATO was established in the aftermath of World War II and the organization implemented the North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington, DC on 4 April 1949.