{"id":21885,"date":"2024-02-26T13:39:07","date_gmt":"2024-02-26T18:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/hungarys-parliament-clears-path-for-swedens-nato-membership\/26\/02\/2024\/"},"modified":"2024-02-26T13:39:07","modified_gmt":"2024-02-26T18:39:07","slug":"hungarys-parliament-clears-path-for-swedens-nato-membership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newssprinters.com\/index.php\/world\/hungarys-parliament-clears-path-for-swedens-nato-membership\/26\/02\/2024\/","title":{"rendered":"Hungary’s parliament clears path for Sweden’s Nato membership"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Hungarian MPs have overwhelmingly ratified Sweden’s bid to join Nato in a long-delayed vote which paves the way for the Nordic nation’s membership.<\/p>\n

Sweden applied to join in 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but Hungary had accused it of being hostile.<\/p>\n

Last week, however, Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban said they were now “prepared to die for each other”.<\/p>\n

All Nato members are expected to help an ally which comes under attack.<\/p>\n

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson<\/a><\/span><\/span> said today was a “historic day” and that Sweden was “ready to shoulder its responsibility for Euro-Atlantic security”.<\/p>\n

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the Hungarian parliament’s decision made the alliance “stronger and safer”.<\/p>\n

Mr Orban is a nationalist politician with close ties to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin<\/a><\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n

He has often blocked EU efforts to send military aid to Ukraine.<\/p>\n

Sweden is one of the EU countries which have accused Hungary of backsliding on the EU’s democratic principles.<\/p>\n

In turn, Mr Orban’s spokesman Zoltan Kovacs accused officials in Sweden of sitting on a “crumbling throne of moral superiority”.<\/p>\n

Last week, however, Mr Orban hosted his Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson and announced his support for Sweden’s membership.<\/p>\n

Monday’s vote was almost unanimous – 188 to 6.<\/p>\n

In his speech, Mr Orban sharply criticised unnamed Nato allies for exerting pressure on his government to end the 21-month delay.<\/p>\n

“Hungary is a sovereign country and does not tolerate being dictated to by others, on the content or timing of decisions,” he said.<\/p>\n

The parliament’s approval must now be signed by the president – after which a formal invitation is sent to Sweden to join the 31-member-strong group.<\/p>\n

The process usually lasts a few days.<\/p>\n

Turkey had been the other Nato country to withhold approval of Sweden’s application in a row over what it called Sweden’s support to Kurdish separatists. It eventually lifted its veto in January.<\/p>\n

Every member has a veto over the expansion of the defensive alliance.<\/p>\n

Sweden and its eastern neighbour Finland, both long considered militarily neutral, announced their intention to join Nato in May 2022.<\/p>\n

Finland formally joined in April last year, doubling the length of the alliance’s border with Russia.<\/p>\n

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his army into Ukraine in 2022 in the expectation it would check Nato’s expansion and weaken Western collectivism.<\/p>\n

In fact, with the adhesion of Sweden and Finland, the exact opposite has happened.<\/p>\n

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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hungarian MPs have overwhelmingly ratified Sweden’s bid to join Nato in a long-delayed vote which paves the way for the Nordic nation’s