Hungary’s Parliament voted on Monday to accept Sweden as a new member of NATO, sealing a major shift in the balance of power between the West and Russia set off by war in Ukraine.
The vote allowed Sweden, which has long been nonaligned, to clear the final hurdle that had blocked its membership in NATO and held up the expansion of the military alliance.
Hungary’s authoritarian prime minister, Viktor Orban, whose Fidesz party has a large majority in Parliament, has maintained cordial relations with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia despite the war in Ukraine and had stalled for 19 months on putting Sweden’s NATO membership to a vote in the 199-member legislature.
His decision to finally allow a vote followed a visit to Budapest, the Hungarian capital, on Friday by the Swedish prime minister, Ulf Kristersson. During the visit, it was announced that Sweden would provide Hungary with four Swedish-made Gripen jets in addition to the 14 its air force already uses, and that the maker of the jets, Saab, would open an A.I. research center in Hungary.
The formal admission of Sweden to NATO still requires some procedural paperwork. Once finalized, it will, along with Finland’s entry last year, give a significant boost to NATO’s military strength in the Baltic Sea and reduce Russia’s ability to dominate the waterway, which controls access to ports in St. Petersburg, Kaliningrad and Ust-Luga, an important transit point for Russian energy exports.
In a post on the X social media platform, NATO’s secretary-general, Jens Stoltenberg, welcomed Hungary’s decision, saying that “Sweden’s membership will make us all stronger and safer.”
