Sweden will join NATO after ratification by the Hungarian Parliament. This is the final step in the accession process for this Nordic country, which has been interested in joining the Atlantic Alliance since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
• Also read: By joining NATO, Sweden is ending 200 years of military non-alignment
“A historic day,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson reacted on X (formerly Twitter) minutes after the vote, adding: “Sweden is ready to assume its responsibilities regarding Euro-Atlantic security.”
Sweden, which announced its candidacy at the same time as Finland in the wake of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, will become the 32nd member of NATO and end more than 200 years of military non-alignment.
AFP
Stockholm's candidacy was accepted by Hungarian MPs with an overwhelming majority (188 out of 199), removing the last obstacle to membership.
This will make the Atlantic Alliance “stronger,” said Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz also emphasized that this decision “strengthens our defense alliance and thus the security of Europe and the world.”
“We welcome today’s vote by the Hungarian Parliament,” US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller commented more soberly.
The wait will have been long and the road to Stockholm chaotic: in addition to the negotiations with Turkey, which were concluded with a positive vote in January, there was also the delay of the Hungarian nationalist leader Viktor Orban, the last holdout.
The news was received positively on the streets of the Swedish capital.
“I am very relieved because we have been waiting for this (Sweden's accession to NATO, editor's note) for so long,” Ingrid Lindskog, a 73-year-old pensioner, told AFP.
What will the Russians' reaction be? “The only thing we can expect with certainty is that they don't like Sweden becoming a member of NATO, nor do they like Finland becoming a member of NATO,” the Swedish prime minister noted at a press conference.
“certificate of accession”
At the opening of the parliamentary session, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban welcomed the recent visit of his Swedish counterpart, a significant step towards building “a fair and respectful relationship between the two countries”, beyond “differences of opinion”.
“Sweden's accession to NATO will strengthen Hungary's security,” he added.
Although Mr. Orban had given his in-principle approval long ago, before concluding the process he demanded “respect” from Stockholm after years of “denigrating” its policies.
To seal this new cooperation, Hungary announced on Friday the purchase of four fighter jets from Sweden to strengthen its current fleet of 14 Gripen aircraft.
Sweden's accession protocol, which requires unanimity among Atlantic Alliance members, had been in the works since May 2022.
The law must be announced by the Hungarian president in the coming days.
Sweden can then deposit its “instrument of accession” in Washington in accordance with the NATO treaty and become the 32nd member.
In the case of Finland, for example, Helsinki was postponed five days after the vote in Turkey, the last country to give the green light.
“Last piece of the puzzle”
Sweden thereby broke with its policy of neutrality after the end of the Napoleonic Wars in the 19th century and its military non-alignment since the end of the Cold War.
This membership “is kind of useless, I don’t know what the price is. We will deal with other countries that may not share the same values as us,” Otto Perrin, a 27-year-old sound engineer, replied to AFP.
Sweden's accession to NATO – after Finland's – also means that the Baltic Sea is now surrounded by member countries of the alliance and is referred to by some analysts as the “NATO lake”.
“This is the last piece of the puzzle of the NATO map in northern Europe to come together,” explains Robert Dalsjö, an analyst at the Swedish Defense Research Agency (FOI).
Sweden's entry into NATO has been accompanied by a significant sharpening of rhetoric from its leaders, with Commander-in-Chief of the Swedish Armed Forces Micael Biden declaring in January that his compatriots “must mentally prepare for war.”
From now on, “the Nordic countries will have a common defense for the first time in 500 years (…), we remain friends and we become allies,” welcomed Ulf Kristersson at a press conference.
In addition to its NATO candidacy, Sweden signed an agreement in early December giving the United States access to 17 military bases on its soil.