Hungary’s Orban supports Sweden’s NATO offer, which could remove the last obstacle to joining 

Hungary’s Orban supports Sweden’s NATO offer, which could remove the last obstacle to joining 

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that his government supports Sweden’s bid to join, which could clear the final hurdle to joining after months of heated negotiations.

“I have confirmed that the Hungarian government supports Sweden’s NATO membership,” Orban wrote on Wednesday X.

Orban said he told Stoltenberg in a phone call that he would urge the Hungarian National Assembly to vote for Sweden’s accession . block in the first possible way. The NATO chief said he was pleased with Orban’s “clear support” for Sweden’s request.

Until this week, Hungary was one of two countries that opposed and prevented Sweden from joining NATO. Turkey’s parliament voted against Sweden’s offer on Tuesday, allowing President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to sign the protocol.

Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership in May 2022, shortly after Russia launched an attack on Ukraine earlier that year. Finland joined NATO in April 2023 – doubling the alliance’s border with Russia – but Sweden’s bid remained under challenge.

Erdogan opposed Sweden’s accession, accusing Swedish authorities of being too soft on militant groups, including the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). Since then, Sweden has strengthened its anti-terror laws and pledged closer cooperation with Turkey on security issues.

Another obstacle was Sweden’s approval of a small Koran-burning demonstration outside a mosque in the capital, Stockholm, to coincide with the Islamic holiday of Eid-al-Adha, one of the most important in the Islamic calendar. Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan condemned the decision, saying that “turning a blind eye to such heinous acts is complicity in them.”

Erdogan’s approval was partly achieved through US engagement, when the Turkish president said he would not sign the protocol into law unless Washington approved the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Ankara. Ben Cardin, chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on Tuesday that Congress would wait for the accession documents to be completed before moving forward.

Orban, considered the closest EU leader to Russian President Vladimir Putin, initially said he was not opposed to Sweden joining the bloc before moving to stop it. Hungarian MEP Katalin Cseh said last year that Orban’s blocking of Sweden’s bid was “just another favor for Vladimir Putin”.

But after the Turkish parliament’s decision, Orban said on Tuesday that he invited his Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson to visit Hungary to negotiate the terms of Sweden’s accession.

Stoltenberg said he had a “good conversation” with Orban on Wednesday, adding: “I look forward to ratification as soon as parliament reconvenes.”.