Hungary remains the only country that has not yet ratified Stockholm's application to join NATO (Reuters)

Today, Monday, the Hungarian Parliament approved Sweden's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which is the latest in a series of decisions taken by the northern country since the start of the Russian war on Ukraine.

This step comes after a long period of waiting, as Sweden faced the reluctance of the nationalist Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, and negotiations with Turkey that ended with a positive vote last January.

Although Orban expressed his initial approval, Sweden demanded "respect" before moving forward, given its criticism of his policy.

Recent weeks have witnessed an improvement in the situation, with the visit of Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson on Friday, which was considered the conclusion of “a long process of restoring confidence,” according to Orban’s words.

In order to strengthen this cooperation, the two countries announced Budapest's purchase of 4 combat aircraft from Sweden, to reinforce its current fleet of 14 Gripen aircraft.

Sweden joining NATO

Voting in Parliament is scheduled to take place after 16:20 local time (15:20 GMT), without any surprise, given that the ruling coalition party enjoys a two-thirds majority.

The opposition is expected to vote in favor of Sweden joining NATO, with the exception of the far-right Our Homeland party.

Sweden's NATO accession protocol, which requires approval by all 31 members of the alliance, has been suspended since May 2022.

Stockholm announced its candidacy to join the alliance after Russia launched a war on Ukraine in February 2022, coinciding with Finland's request to join the alliance in April 2023.

Consequently, both Sweden and Finland abandoned the decades of post-World War II neutrality, with no military alignment since the end of the Cold War.

But for months, Hungary worked to delay the decision, each time giving different reasons.

"Blackmail strategy"

Some experts considered that Hungary was adopting a "blackmail strategy" to obtain concessions from the European Union and obtain billions of euros of currently frozen funds, while others saw this as an indication of rapprochement between Orban, Russian President Vladimir Putin, and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

On the other hand, analyst and researcher at Ca' Foscari University, Matej Szalai, indicated that Orban adopts national priorities in his policy, and focuses on avoiding international clashes that may negatively affect Hungary's interests.

Salai pointed out that this strategy reflects Orban's desire to show the importance of his country and maintain his popularity internally, despite his lack of tangible results on the international scene.

Source: French press