Sweden Edges Closer to Joining NATO as Turkey, Hungary Act

Zoltan Simon and Firat Kozok
·3 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Sweden edged nearer to joining NATO after Turkey planned a vote to approve the Nordic nation’s accession and Hungary sought talks on the matter.

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Turkey’s parliament is expected to vote on Sweden’s membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization later Tuesday, according to the parliament’s agenda. Ratification in Turkey would leave Hungary as the last NATO member to approve Stockholm’s bid.

Sweden’s entry will bolster the bloc, reinforcing its northern reach and improving its ability to defend an eastern flank that doubled in length following Finland’s admission last April. The two Nordic nations, which had previously shunned membership in military alliances, applied to join shortly after Russia began waging outright war in Ukraine in early 2022.

In another sign of progress on Sweden’s entry into the NATO, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Tuesday said he’d sent an invitation to his Swedish counterpart to discuss the bid, according a post on X.

“Today I sent an invitation letter to Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson for a visit to Hungary to negotiate on Sweden’s NATO accession,” Orban said in his social-media post on Tuesday.

No date has been set for the visit yet, Orban’s spokesman, Bertalan Havasi, said by email.

Read More: What It Takes to Join NATO, a Club Refreshed by Putin

While Turkey has conditioned its support of Sweden’s bid on a crackdown on what it labels Kurdish terrorist groups in Sweden as well as the procurement of F-16 fighter jets from the US, Hungary has been less forthcoming about why it’s holding up NATO’s expansion.

Orban and his ministers have blamed Swedish criticism of Hungary’s democratic backsliding as one reason for not moving ahead with ratification in parliament, where the motion has languished for more than a year and a half. Hungary’s government has also said a courtesy call by Sweden’s leader to mend frayed ties would be a prerequisite for Budapest’s sign off.

Hungary has also pointed to a delay in ratification due to coordination with Turkey on the approval process, without explaining the linkage. A repeated pledge by Orban to complete the paperwork on Sweden’s accession before Turkey though looks to be in jeopardy if Ankara acts this week.

Hungary’s ratification is likely at least a month off, given that parliament isn’t expected to reconvene from its winter recess until the second half of February. No date has been set for the opening session, according to the parliament’s press office.

Orban, who’s considered the most Russia-friendly leader in the European Union, has seen Hungary’s isolation grow both within the trading bloc and in NATO over what many of his western allies consider to be a policy of undermining support for its neighbor Ukraine.

--With assistance from Niclas Rolander, Ugur Yilmaz and Selcan Hacaoglu.

(Updates with Turkey’s parliament planning to vote on Sweden’s bid from first paragraph)

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