Sweden cleared the final obstacle to NATO admission on Monday, as Hungary voted to ratify the the nordic country’s bid after nearly two years of negotiation.
Sweden will be the 32nd country to join NATO, discarding its historic position of military neutrality. Sweden initiated its application to join NATO in May 2022, after Russia invaded Ukraine.
For a new member to be admitted into NATO, all existing members must unanimously approve their application. At the end of June 2022, after Sweden’s as well as Finland’s invitations to NATO were confirmed, the treaty was sent to the 30 member states’ parliaments and legislatures for final ratification. The Senate in August 2022 overwhelmingly voted in favor of a resolution to ratify Sweden’s admission, a bipartisan move designed to bolster the strategic alliance against Russia as it waged its war in Ukraine.
Sweden’s integration expands NATO’s reach in northern Europe, which members see as a deterrent to Russian aggression. By Article 5 of the NATO agreement, signatories are obliged to treat an attack on one member nation as an attack on all and mobilize appropriately for their mutual protection, an appealing provision for prospective applicants.
Before Sweden’s success on Monday, the effort in Hungary to usher the Scandinavian country into NATO faced opposition from governing party members led by Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. In 2023, Orbán dropped his objections and finally endorsed Swedish membership in NATO. However, the Hungarian parliament delayed votes on the ratification of the two countries’ accessions over a different disagreement with the European Union over corruption accusations.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson met with Orban to discuss Sweden’s bid last week, when Hungary’s leader said significant steps were taken to “rebuild trust.” On Friday, Orban officially embraced Sweden’s entry, signaling an end to the dispute between the countries.
“To be a member of NATO together with another country means we are ready to die for each other,” Orban said Friday, according to the Associated Press. “A deal on defense and military capacities helps to reconstruct the trust between the two countries.”
Besides Hungary, Turkey had been the other resister of Swedish membership in NATO, with the Turkish government claiming that Sweden had been harboring Kurdish terrorist groups. Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan had also requested Sweden lift its weapons embargo which was imposed after Turkey’s 2019 incursion into Syria. In June 2022, Erdogan lifted his veto of Sweden membership after a weeks-long stalemate over negotiations. Turkey then signed a memorandum with Finland and Sweden confirming Erdogan would support their nomination into the alliance.
In January, Turkey agreed to welcome Sweden into NATO.