Sweden’s path to NATO cleared, flag to be raised in coming days

Hungary’s president ratified Stockholm’s accession documents to join the military alliance on Tuesday (5 March) as the 32nd member, paving the way for a swift accession in the next few days after almost two years in the waiting room. 

“Tamás Sulyok, President of Hungary ratified the decision of the National Assembly on Sweden’s accession to NATO on 26 February 2024 as his first decision in office,” the government’s spokesperson announced on social platform X.

The country’s president’s signature was the last political barrier on Sweden’s way to becoming a NATO member.

Its Parliament approved the move last week – a mandatory part of the accession process – after talks took place between Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristensson.

While the presidential ratification should have swiftly followed, the new president of Hungary only took office this week, delaying the very last path-clearing move until now.

The next and last steps are purely administrative and can be cleared in a matter of hours.

The accession documents will now make their way to the US Department of State, the official depository of the protocols in the next hours.

A flag-raising ceremony and official announcements by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg should take place in the next few days at the military alliance’s Headquarters in Brussels.

US Air Force bombers have planned a flyover on Sweden’s capital Stockholm on Wednesday (6 March) alongside Swedish fighter jets, suggesting the ceremony will take place the same day.

Hungary is the last member of NATO to green-light the accession of the Nordic country to the Western military alliance.

Sweden applied to NATO in a joint bid with Finland in the spring of 2022, in response to the threat of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, their neighbour.

Alongside Turkey opposing Sweden joining the alliance on grounds that it does not fight terrorism sufficiently, Hungary had been holding back as it viewed Stockholm as taking its NATO accession for granted, and objected to the allegations of rule of law violations it levelled at Budapest.

NATO members did not take any steps to mediate the issue and have repeatedly played it down. Negotiations between Finland, Sweden, and Turkey were put in place in the summer of 2022.

Once it has become a member, the process will begin for Sweden to be absorbed into NATO’s defence and deterrence plans. The process of fully integrating the country can take years.

[Edited by Nathalie Weatherald]

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