Hungary’s parliament ratifies Sweden’s NATO bid

This story was updated Feb. 26, 2024, at 1:54 p.m. EST.

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Hungary’s parliament voted Monday to ratify Sweden’s bid to join NATO, ending more than 18 months of delays that frustrated the alliance as it sought to expand in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine .

The vote, which passed 188-6, was the culmination of months of wrangling by Hungary’s allies to convince its nationalist government to lift its block on Sweden’s membership. The government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán submitted the protocols for approving Sweden’s entry into NATO in July 2022, but the matter stalled in parliament over opposition by governing party lawmakers.

Hungary’s decision paved the way for the second expansion of NATO’s ranks in a year after both Sweden and Finland applied to join the alliance in May 2022 following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine — an assault that was purportedly intended to prevent further NATO expansion.

Unanimous support among NATO members is required to admit new countries, and Hungary is the last of the alliance’s 31 members to give its backing since Turkey ratified the request last month.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said his country was “now leaving 200 years of neutrality and nonalignment behind us.”

“It is a big step, we must take that seriously. But it is also a very natural step that we are taking. NATO membership means that we’ve found a new home within a large number of democracies which work together for peace and freedom,” he told a news conference in Stockholm.

Orbán, a right-wing populist who has forged close ties with Russia, has said that criticism of Hungary’s democracy by Swedish politicians soured relations between the two countries and led to reluctance among lawmakers in his Fidesz party.

But addressing lawmakers before the vote, Orbán said: “Sweden and Hungary’s military cooperation and Sweden’s NATO accession strengthen Hungary’s security.”

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told The Associated Press that the vote “makes NATO stronger, Sweden safer, and all of us more secure.”

Stoltenberg said that Sweden brings with it capable armed forces and a first-class defense industry, and it is spending at least 2% of national gross domestic product on defense, which is NATO’s target level.

The vote “also demonstrates that NATO’s door is open” and that Russian President Vladimir Putin “did not succeed in his attempt to close NATO’s door,” he said.

On Monday, Orbán criticized Hungary’s European Union and NATO allies for pressuring his government in recent months to move forward on bringing Sweden into the alliance.

“Hungary is a sovereign country. It does not tolerate being dictated by others, whether it be the content of its decisions or their timing,” he said.

Last weekend, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators visited Hungary and announced it would submit a joint resolution to Congress condemning Hungary’s alleged democratic backsliding and urging Orbán’s government to allow Sweden’s integration into NATO.

On Monday, ambassadors from several NATO countries were in the parliamentary chamber during the vote. The U.S. ambassador to Hungary, David Pressman, told reporters Sweden’s approval was “a decision of strategic significance to the United States of America, to Hungary and to the trans-Atlantic alliance as a whole.”

“This has been a decision that has taken some time, and we look forward to the process concluding rapidly,” Pressman said.

A presidential signature, which is needed to formally endorse the approval of Sweden’s NATO bid, was expected within the next few days.

Kristersson, Sweden’s prime minister, met last week with Orbán in Hungary’s capital, where they appeared to reach a decisive reconciliation after months of diplomatic tensions.

Following their meeting, the leaders announced the conclusion of a defense industry agreement that will include Hungary’s purchase of four Swedish-made JAS 39 Gripen jets and the extension of a service contract for its existing Gripen fleet.

Orbán said the additional fighter jets “will significantly increase our military capabilities and further strengthen our role abroad” and will improve Hungary’s ability to participate in joint NATO operations.

“To be a member of NATO together with another country means we are ready to die for each other,” Orbán said. “A deal on defense and military capacities helps to reconstruct the trust between the two countries.”

Robert Dalsjö, a senior analyst with the Swedish Defence Research Agency, told the AP on Friday that Hungary’s decision to finally lift its opposition came only after Turkey and its president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, voted in January to ratify Stockholm’s bid.

After becoming the last NATO holdout with the Turkish vote, Orbán had to show some results for his government’s delays, Dalsjö said.

“In hiding behind Erdogan’s back, Orbán could play, do some pirouettes,” he said. “Then when Erdoğan shifted, Orbán wasn’t really prepared for adjusting his position, and he needed something to show that could legitimize his turnaround. And that turned out to be the Gripen deal.”

Monday’s vote was just one matter on a busy agenda for lawmakers in the Hungarian parliament. A vote was also held on accepting the resignation of President Katalin Novák, who stepped down earlier this month in a scandal over her decision to pardon to a man convicted of covering up a string of child sexual abuses.

After accepting Novák’s resignation, lawmakers confirmed Tamás Sulyok, the president of Hungary’s Constitutional Court, as the country’s new president. He is set to formally take office on March 5.

David Keyton in Stockholm, Sweden, and Jan M. Olsen in Copenhagen, Denmark, contributed to this story.

本文于美国东部时间 2024 年 2 月 26 日下午 1:54 更新。

匈牙利布达佩斯——匈牙利议会周一投票批准瑞典加入北约的申请，结束了长达 18 个月的拖延。此前，北约为应对俄罗斯在乌克兰的战争而寻求扩张，这一拖延令北约感到沮丧。

此次投票以188票赞成、6票反对获得通过，标志着匈牙利盟友数月来游说匈牙利民族主义政府解除对瑞典加入北约的阻挠的最终结果。匈牙利总理欧尔班领导的政府于2022年7月提交了批准瑞典加入北约的议定书，但由于执政党议员的反对，该议案在议会陷入僵局。

匈牙利的决定为北约一年内的第二次扩张铺平了道路。此前，瑞典和芬兰在 2022 年 5 月申请加入北约，而俄罗斯全面入侵乌克兰的行动据称是为了阻止北约进一步扩张。

接纳新国家加入北约需要北约成员国的一致支持，而匈牙利是北约 31 个成员国中最后一个表示支持的国家，土耳其上个月已经批准了该请求。

瑞典首相乌尔夫·克里斯特松表示，他的国家“现在正在告别200年的中立和不结盟政策”。

“这是一个重大举措，我们必须认真对待。但这也是我们正在采取的一个非常自然的举措。加入北约意味着我们在众多致力于和平与自由的民主国家中找到了新的家园，”他在斯德哥尔摩举行的新闻发布会上说。

匈牙利右翼民粹主义者欧尔班与俄罗斯建立了密切联系。他表示，瑞典政客对匈牙利民主的批评恶化了两国关系，并导致他所在的青民盟议员们心生不满。

但在投票前向议员们发表讲话时，欧尔班表示：“瑞典和匈牙利的军事合作以及瑞典加入北约加强了匈牙利的安全。”

北约秘书长延斯·斯托尔滕贝格告诉美联社，这次投票“使北约更强大，瑞典更安全，也使我们所有人都更安全”。

斯托尔滕贝格表示，瑞典拥有强大的武装力量和一流的国防工业，其国防开支至少占国内生产总值的 2%，这是北约的目标水平。

他说，这次投票“也表明北约的大门是敞开的”，俄罗斯总统弗拉基米尔·普京“关闭北约大门的企图没有成功”。

周一，欧尔班批评匈牙利的欧盟和北约盟友，指责他们近几个月来向匈牙利政府施压，要求其推进瑞典加入北约的进程。

“匈牙利是一个主权国家。它不容忍被他人左右，无论是决策的内容还是决策的时机，”他说。

上周末，美国两党参议员访问了匈牙利，并宣布将向国会提交一份联合决议，谴责匈牙利所谓的民主倒退，并敦促欧尔班政府允许瑞典加入北约。

周一，几位北约国家的大使在议会大厅旁听了投票。美国驻匈牙利大使戴维·普雷斯曼告诉记者，瑞典的批准“对美国、匈牙利以及整个跨大西洋联盟都具有重要的战略意义”。

“我们花了一些时间才做出这个决定，我们期待这个过程能尽快结束，”普雷斯曼说。

预计在未来几天内，瑞典总统将签署文件，正式批准瑞典加入北约。

瑞典首相克里斯特松上周在匈牙利首都与匈牙利总理欧尔班会面，双方似乎在经历了数月的外交紧张局势后达成了决定性的和解。

会晤结束后，两国领导人宣布达成一项国防工业协议，其中包括匈牙利购买四架瑞典制造的JAS 39“鹰狮”战斗机，以及延长其现有“鹰狮”机队的服务合同。

欧尔班表示，新增的战斗机“将显著提升我们的军事能力，进一步加强我们在海外的作用”，并将提高匈牙利参与北约联合行动的能力。

欧尔班表示：“与另一个国家一起成为北约成员国意味着我们准备为彼此牺牲生命。达成防务和军事能力协议有助于重建两国之间的信任。”

瑞典国防研究局高级分析师罗伯特·达尔舍周五告诉美联社，匈牙利最终取消反对立场，是在土耳其及其总统雷杰普·塔伊普·埃尔多安于1月份投票批准斯德哥尔摩的申请之后才做出的。

达尔舍表示，土耳其投票成为北约最后一个拒绝加入的国家后，奥尔班不得不拿出一些成果来弥补其政府的拖延。

“躲在埃尔多安背后，欧尔班可以耍花招，耍耍花招，”他说。“但当埃尔多安改变策略时，欧尔班并没有做好调整的准备，他需要一些东西来证明自己转变的合理性。而最终，鹰狮战斗机的交易成了他转变的契机。”

周一的投票只是匈牙利议会议员们繁忙议程中的一项议题。议会还就接受总统卡塔琳·诺瓦克的辞呈进行了投票。诺瓦克总统本月早些时候因赦免一名被判犯有包庇一系列儿童性虐待罪行的男子而引发丑闻，被迫辞职。

在接受诺瓦克的辞呈后，议员们确认匈牙利宪法法院院长塔马什·苏廖克为新任总统。他将于3月5日正式就职。

瑞典斯德哥尔摩的 David Keyton 和丹麦哥本哈根的 Jan M. Olsen 对本文亦有贡献。