Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said his government supports Sweden's membership in NATO. Orban reported on X, previously Twitter, that he had conveyed this message to NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg. This appears to have removed the last obstacle to Sweden joining the military alliance.
Viktor Orban said on Twitter: “I just called NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.” I reaffirmed to him that the Hungarian government supports Sweden's membership in NATO. Orban added that he would continue to urge the Hungarian National Assembly to vote in favor of Sweden's accession to NATO and complete its ratification as soon as possible.
Stoltenberg himself states that he had a “good conversation” with Orban. The Hungarian Parliament is expected to ratify the accession protocols at the next meeting.
Jens Stoltenberg
@genstoltenberg
This would remove the last obstacle to Sweden joining NATO. The Hungarian Parliament returns from recess in mid-February.
Hungary is the only country that has not yet agreed to Sweden's request. Orban invited his Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson, to negotiations on NATO on Tuesday. Stockholm said there was no reason to negotiate.
Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership in May 2022 after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Finland's accession was approved by all NATO countries in April last year. Consensus is required to join. However, Türkiye and Hungary continued to block Sweden's accession for several months.
Until now, Orban has always indicated that Hungary supports Swedish participation, but that its inclusion is not a priority. He also criticized Sweden's position towards his country. That would be “openly hostile.”
look. Türkiye also gave the green light for Sweden to join
Türkiye also gave the green light
The Turkish Parliament gave the green light for Sweden's accession on Tuesday. Turkey had previously been obstructed for several months because Stockholm did not intervene sufficiently against Kurdish armed groups active in Sweden that Turkey classifies as terrorists.
After concessions from Sweden, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced at the end of October 2023 that he would allow ratification by the Turkish Parliament, but at the beginning of December he added the additional condition that the United States obtain modern F-16 fighter aircraft. . It will be supplied to Türkiye.
Watch also. NATO leader warns of an unpredictable era
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