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Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (right) and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson shake hands after a press conference on Friday. The Hungarian parliament ratified Sweden's NATO membership application on Monday.
CNN –
Hungary's parliament overwhelmingly approved Sweden's NATO membership application on Monday, paving the way for the Nordic country to join the alliance after nearly two years of intense negotiations and dealing a geopolitical blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The approval of the Hungarian parliament was the final hurdle for Stockholm to join NATO. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson visited Budapest on Friday to discuss defense and security cooperation with his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban. The two sides appeared to reconcile and agreed to a deal that included the purchase of four new Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets for Hungary.
Of the 194 MPs who voted, only six opposed Sweden's accession.
“Today is a historic day,” Kristersson said shortly after the vote on X. “Sweden is ready to assume its responsibility for Euro-Atlantic security.”
Attila Kisbenedek/AFP/Getty Images
Representatives of the Hungarian parliament will vote on Monday to ratify Sweden's NATO membership.
Sweden will formally join the alliance after submitting its instrument of accession to the United States government, the administrator of the North Atlantic Treaty. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed that Sweden will join the bloc after all allies approved its application to join.
“Sweden’s membership will make us all stronger and safer,” he said.
With Sweden's entry, NATO will have 32 countries among its members – an ironic twist considering that Russia began its war against Ukraine in part because of the alliance's growth in Eastern Europe along the Russian border.
Last year, Finland became NATO's 31st member, extending the alliance's border with Russia by around 1,300 kilometers (830 miles).
As NATO countries, Finland and Sweden enjoy protection under Article 5 of the treaty establishing the alliance, which states that an attack on one member is considered an attack against all.
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Sweden and Finland announced their intention to join the alliance in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, abandoning the decades-long policy of non-alignment that characterized both states' foreign relations during the Cold War.
NATO has an open-door policy, meaning any country can be invited to join if it expresses interest and is able and willing to uphold the principles of the bloc's founding treaty.
However, according to the accession rules, any member state can veto the accession of a new country. While most NATO members quickly agreed to Finland and Sweden's requests, Hungary and Turkey held out for some time.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Finland and Sweden of being too lenient towards Kurdish terrorist organizations, while Orban claimed they were spreading “blatant lies” about his country's failure to comply with European Union rule of law standards – core values in EU anchored in contracts.
Such concerns led the EU to freeze billions of dollars in funds destined for Hungary until those concerns were addressed. Orban and his government have repeatedly denied violating EU rules.
Hungary and Turkey both later softened their stance on Finland's membership and approved the membership application last March. Turkey's parliament approved Sweden's accession last month after Stockholm tightened its anti-terrorism laws and pledged closer cooperation with Turkey on security issues.
01:05 – Source: CNN
The Turkish parliament approves Sweden's application to join NATO
Shortly after the Turkish vote, Orban told NATO chief Stoltenberg that his government would also support Swedish membership. The Hungarian leader said during his state of the nation address on February 17 that the country could ratify Sweden's accession at the start of Parliament's spring session on Monday.
“Hungary has a legitimate interest in the security of Europe,” said government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs after the vote on Monday. “In Sweden we have a strong and reliable ally who will serve the future of NATO for the better.”
NATO allies were concerned that while Orban had publicly supported Sweden's offer, the country had hesitated for months. Budapest's delay raised fears that Orban, the EU leader closest to Putin, was acting in a way that benefited the Kremlin.
However, in recent weeks, Europe has managed to persuade Hungary to join the bloc's foreign policy goals. Earlier this month, Budapest dropped its objections to a $50 billion EU funding deal for Ukraine that Orban vetoed in December on procedural grounds. Orban's critics had accused him of blocking the deal in response to the EU's decision to withhold funds intended for Hungary. Hungary denied that there was a connection between the two.
Sweden's entry into NATO comes at a crucial time in the war in Ukraine, as Russia is making renewed successes on the battlefield and cracks appear to be emerging in Western support for Kiev after two years of fighting. The focus has also shifted away from Europe since the Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7 sparked a war in the Middle East.
The rise in populist sentiment in Europe and the United States ahead of elections in June and November, respectively, also threatens to derail Ukraine's efforts to continue its fight against Russia.
Politicians in Western democracies are struggling to convince an increasingly skeptical electorate that supporting Ukraine and stopping the advance of authoritarianism abroad is a wise use of billions of dollars in taxes when voters face other problems at home, such as dealing with rising inflation.
CNN's Luke McGee and Lauren Kent contributed to this report