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When Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sent his Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristerson a letter inviting him to “discuss Sweden’s entry into the Atlantic Alliance”, the latter reminded him that Hungary had already granted guest country status to Sweden.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán invited his Swedish counterpart to Budapest on Tuesday to try to clear the final hurdles for the Nordic country’s entry into NATO, which is preparing to seek approval from Turkey. Turkey’s parliament has begun scrutinizing the accession protocol ahead of a crucial vote expected in the evening at the end of twenty months of negotiations between Ankara and Stockholm. So Hungary now remains the only holdout.
Orban for months”respect» in Stockholm, where he condemned the policy of “infamous» and his regular comments on the authoritarian trend of the Central European country. Absent a signal from him and under pressure from his NATO partners, the nationalist leader took the lead. “I sent a letter today to Prime Minister Ulf Kristerson inviting him to Hungary to discuss Sweden’s entry into the Atlantic Alliance.», he wrote on X (formerly Twitter). In his letter, consulted by AFP, he said “Build strong mutual trust“through”More intense political dialogue“
The reply came a few hours later. “I see no reason to trade today», the Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs reacted to the press. “At the Madrid summit last year, Hungary (..) granted guest status to Sweden.» With a view to joining NATO, without reservation, underlined Tobias Billström. On the other hand, he said that he is ready “Discussions“, aiming at “Many issues are common“and”military cooperation» between the two countries.
Theoretical basis
“Moreover, we will soon become a NATO (within) ally, forming a broader concept. We can talk, state by state, about what that would mean», without responding at this stage to the invitation addressed to the Prime Minister, he added.
Sweden announced its candidacy for NATO in May 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, at the same time as Finland, which became the organization’s 31st member in April. Hungary has certainly given its in-principle support but has been dragging its feet for months.
Some experts saw it as a blackmail strategy by Viktor Orbán to extract concessions from the EU, others a sign of his closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish head of state Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The nationalist leader promised not to be the last leader to give his approval, but after a long wait, he appeared before the Turkish parliament.
