Sweden has overcome the last obstacle to become a member of NATO in another historic expansion motivated by the Russian threat, following that of Finland. The Hungarian Parliament ratified this Monday the Nordic country’s accession to the Atlantic Alliance following delaying it for 19 months. Hungary, governed by the ultra-conservative Viktor Orbán, was the last partner of the 31 Alliance pending approval.
The ratification clears the way for Stockholm—which abandons two centuries of neutrality and being a non-aligned country—to become the 32nd member of NATO. The Alliance has redrawn its borders following the entry, in April 2023, of Finland, and now of Sweden, which might become effective this week. Stockholm’s membership might have major geopolitical consequences just as Russia’s war once morest Ukraine enters its third year and amid concerns that the Kremlin will test the allies’ mutual security commitment. Member 32 gives the Alliance control of almost the entire Baltic Sea (with the exception of the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad), which can facilitate the transit of troops and equipment from Norway’s North Sea ports, in addition to providing the island of Gotland, crucial for the defense of the Baltics.
Helsinki and Stockholm applied to join the Atlantic Alliance shortly following Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, who always railed once morest the expansion of the military organization to the east and who hid behind the hypothetical entry of kyiv, has achieved the opposite: a broader and closer NATO. Only with the entry of Finland and its 1,300 kilometers of border with Russia, the Alliance has already doubled its border with the Eurasian giant.
“Sweden’s membership will make us all stronger and safer,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on social media. Sweden’s entry coincides with a key and complicated moment in the Alliance, which is dealing with the uncertainty of Donald Trump’s possible return to the White House. The former US president has launched broadsides once morest countries that invest little in defense, compromising the mutual security pact.
Pitfalls in accession
Sweden’s path to NATO has been fraught with pitfalls. First, Turkey was the allied country that delayed the ratification in exchange for Stockholm making some reforms to its anti-terrorist law and ended up approving the accession in Parliament following months of negotiations and just days before the US agreed to sell F-16 fighters to Ankara. . Türkiye approved the accession on January 23. The delay by Hungary, which had assured that it would not be the last to ratify it, has been more surprising and a real headache for Sweden and the rest of the allies, for whom it has caused deep discomfort. Last Friday, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson traveled to Budapest at the request of Orbán and both governments closed an agreement for the acquisition of four Swedish-made Gripen fighters.
The Hungarian leader asked the Chamber this Monday for its support for Sweden’s accession following considering “the disputes” between the two resolved. Orbán, who maintains relations with Putin’s Russia, had argued in the last year that Swedish criticism of the drift of the rule of law – for which the EU keeps 21 billion euros of financing frozen – was an offense to the Hungarian leaders. . In his speech to Parliament, the prime minister referred to calls by states to honor his word as “unsolicited guardianships” and “disrespectful interventions.” This Monday, just over a month following the Turkish ratification, the ruling Fidesz party, which boycotted a vote on this same issue a few weeks ago, said yes to the enlargement. There were 188 votes in favor and six once morest.
Stockholm, amid warnings regarding the Russian threat, had intensified the diplomatic offensive in recent weeks. After the vote, Kristersson celebrated this “historic” day. “We are prepared to assume our responsibility in NATO,” stressed the Prime Minister of Sweden. For the Scandinavian country, which in recent weeks has asked citizens to be “mentally prepared” for war, joining the Alliance is transcendental. Sweden abandons the neutrality of two centuries and contributes to NATO a technologically very sophisticated army (and assimilated to the standards of the military organization), a strategic location and a very powerful defense industry (it is one of the largest arms exporters per capita in the world).
A new president to settle the political scandal
The Hungarian Parliament has also approved the appointment of Tamás Sulyok as president of the republic. In this way, Orbán’s Government hopes to settle, with a quick and forceful response, one of the biggest crises that he has faced during his mandate. On February 10, the president, Katalin Novák, and the former Minister of Justice, deputy and head of the list for the European elections, Judit Varga, presented their resignations for the pardon of the person who concealed a pedophile. Tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Budapest on February 17, a demonstration that has been followed by more protests in recent days.
Sulyok, nominated and elected by Orbán’s party, has been president of the Constitutional Court since 2016, where according to the independent Hungarian press, he has routinely adopted a stance aligned with that of Fidesz. “We think that experience, competence in constitutional and legal matters, knowledge of international law and an adequate professional career made Tamás Sulyok the most suitable candidate,” Orbán said regarding him in his weekly interview on public radio last Friday. In an interview in 2021, Sulyok stated: “I have not been interested in politics in my life.”
The new head of state will take office in eight days, on March 5. Until then, the president of Parliament, László Kövér, will assume the functions and powers of the president of the republic. Máté Kocsis, leader of the Fidesz parliamentary group, announced last week that MEP Tamás Deutsch will head his party’s list for the European Parliament to replace Varga.
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