A Stockholm’s candidacy was approved by an overwhelming majority of deputies (188 votes out of 199 seats) after almost two years of waiting.
After ratification, a month ago, by the Turkish Parliament, Hungary was the last of the 31 members of the Alliance that had not yet approved Sweden’s entry, in a process that began almost two years ago and until now was blocked by these two countries.
Ratification by the Hungarian Parliament, where Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz has a two-thirds majority, was delayed several times, with MPs from this party justifying the delay, for example, with Sweden’s “unfair” criticism of politics and democratic drift in Hungary, also denounced by the European Union.
On Friday, Orbán had announced this Monday’s parliament meeting to take “the necessary decisions, which will close this phase”, in a press conference with his Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson.
On the same occasion, Orbán also revealed the purchase of four combat aircraft from Sweden, demonstrating his desire for reinforced military cooperation.
“Today (February 23) we reached an agreement to add four aircraft to the Hungarian Defense Forces’ fleet of Gripen fighter-bombers”, in addition to the 14 already operated under lease since 2006, he declared.
Agreements related to the maintenance and provision of services for these devices were also signed.
Orbán assured that this operation is not related to the ratification of Sweden’s entry into NATO and stated that restoring trust between the two countries has been a long process, but acknowledged that the acquisition of the fighters “will contribute to reestablishing it”.
At the time, the head of the Swedish Government avoided criticizing Hungary and stated that when a country asks to be a member of NATO, it knows that the request will have to be ratified by all countries.
“We respect that the Hungarian Parliament took its decision more slowly”, said Kristersson, who announced that the two countries will continue to look for points of cooperation.
The official stated that Hungary and Sweden, despite their differences, are partners in the European Union “and soon also in NATO”.
“We do not agree on several issues with Hungary, but we agree on one thing: we have to cooperate on issues on which we share positions. Both countries are members of the EU and soon also of NATO,” he said.
The announcement of the Swedish government official’s visit came shortly after Fidesz deputies announced, last Tuesday, that they had asked the President of Parliament to include the matter on the agenda.
[Notícia atualizada às 16h24]
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Source: https://www.noticiasaominuto.com/mundo/2509590/parlamento-hungaro-ratifica-adesao-da-suecia-a-nato
