JONATHAN NACKSTRAND / AFP
The flags of Sweden and NATO. All that remains in Stockholm is Hungary to convince to join the Atlantic Alliance.
INTERNATIONAL – Sweden has never been closer to joining NATO. The Turkish parliament approved this Tuesday, January 23 by an overwhelming majority the entry of Stockholm into the Atlantic Alliance, putting an end to 20 months of negotiations which tested the patience of the Western allies.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson welcomed ” one step closer “ towards his country’s membership in NATO. Swedish accession “makes NATO stronger and strengthens our security”he added.
“The upcoming accession of Sweden, like that of Finland which has already taken place, will further strengthen the Atlantic Alliance”, argued for his part the spokesperson for the German government, Steffen Hebestreit. It is “a direct reaction to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine”he recalled.
To satisfy Ankara’s demands, Sweden reformed its Constitution and adopted a new anti-terrorism law, with Turkey accusing Sweden of leniency towards Kurdish militants who had taken refuge on its soil, some of whom were considered terrorists by Ankara.
Viktor Orban remains reluctant
Hungary now remains the only holdout. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban invited his Swedish counterpart to Budapest to try to remove the last obstacles. Orban has been asking for months ” respect “ in Stockholm, whose policy of “denigration” and his regular remarks on the authoritarian drift of his country.
In the absence of a signal from them and under pressure from his NATO partners, the nationalist leader therefore took the lead. “Today I sent a letter to Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson inviting him to Hungary to discuss Sweden’s entry into the Atlantic Alliance”he wrote on X.
In his letter consulted by AFP, he mentions the need to “build strong mutual trust” through “a more intense political dialogue”. The response came a few hours later: “I see no reason to negotiate today”the Swedish Minister of Foreign Affairs reacted to the press.
Finland entered NATO in April 2023
“At the Madrid summit last year, Hungary (..) granted Sweden guest status” with a view to joining NATO, without reservations, underlined Tobias Billström. On the other hand, he said he was ready to ” discussions “relevant “the many points in common” And “military cooperation” between the two countries, without however responding to the Hungarian’s invitation.
Hungary has certainly given its support in principle but has been dragging its feet for months. Some experts saw it as a strategy of blackmail by Viktor Orban to obtain concessions from the EU, others a sign of his proximity to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish Head of State Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Sweden announced in May 2022, in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, its candidacy for NATO, at the same time as Finland, which became the 31st member of the organization in April.
Also see on HuffPost :