Sweden's bid to join NATO hangs in air

Hungarian lawmakers block proposal despite optimism from Turkish move

The Hungarian Parliament's refusal on Tuesday of a proposal to hold a vote on Sweden's NATO application has dampened any rekindled optimism after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan submitted Stockholm's accession protocol to his country's Parliament for ratification on Monday.

The ruling Fidesz party led by Prime Minister Viktor Orban has been opposing Sweden's bid since July 2022, arguing that Stockholm has been meddling and unfairly criticizing democracy and the rule of law in Hungary.

Fidesz lawmakers blocked the Tuesday proposal to schedule a vote, said Agnes Vadai, a lawmaker with the opposition Democratic Coalition party and a former secretary of state in the Ministry of Defense.

All 31 NATO members must agree unanimously for the admission.

Sweden and Finland handed in their official application letters to join NATO on May 18, 2022. Finland became the 31st member in April this year after winning approval from all member states.

The next possible time for the Hungarian Parliament, officially known as the National Assembly, to vote on Sweden's ratification will be during its session beginning on Nov 6.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in New York on Tuesday that Turkiye's recent move to initiate the ratification of Sweden's NATO membership does not affect Hungary's stance on the issue.

He highlighted the autonomy of the Hungarian Parliament.

"The Hungarian Parliament is the sovereign Parliament of a sovereign country, so it will make a sovereign decision on this issue," Szijjarto was quoted as saying by government spokesman Zoltan Kovacs on X.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson was optimistic early Tuesday. He said he has "received assurances from the Hungarian prime minister a couple of times before that they will not delay Sweden, and I think Hungary stands by that". Kristersson would not give a timeline for membership.

"I don't set any dates," he told a news conference in Stockholm on Tuesday with visiting NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.

He added that he had always been convinced that Sweden would get to where it is now and that it would lead to final ratification by both the Turkish and Hungarian Parliaments.

Stoltenberg also said that he had received exactly the same signals as Kristersson that Hungary will not delay the process and that Hungary will not be the last country to ratify. "And since there are two countries that have not ratified, it goes without saying that this should also happen quickly in Hungary," he said.

Erdogan's submission

Stoltenberg said that following Erdogan's submission of the ratification documents, he counts on "a speedy ratification" by the Turkish Parliament, adding that Sweden has fulfilled its commitment by amending the Constitution, changing laws, expanding counterterrorism operations and resuming arms exports to Turkiye.

It is still unknown when the Turkish Parliament, or the Grand National Assembly, would vote on the Swedish ratification.

"If (Joe) Biden administration forwarded a request to sell F-16s to Turkiye in coming days to US Senate's relevant committee, the Turkish Parliament's relevant committee will ratify Sweden's NATO entry immediately," Soner Cagaptay, a senior fellow at The Washington Institute, said on X on Tuesday.

Ashok Swain, a professor of peace and conflict research at Uppsala University in Sweden, expressed skepticism.

"Erdogan has sent Sweden's NATO application to the Turkish parliament. Has Erdogan changed his mind or scapegoating the Parliament?" he wrote on X.

Agencies contributed to this story.