Hungary's parliament votes to approve Sweden's entry into NATO

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Hungary's parliament voted Monday to ratify Sweden's NATO membership, removing the final roadblock for it to join the military alliance after more than a year of delays.

The vote took place Monday evening, local time, garnering a simple majority, and sending the measure to Hungary's interim president, Laszlo Kover who will have five days to sign off on the approval and notify the U.S. State Department.

NATO membership requires unanimous approval from current members, Hungary had been the final holdout preventing Sweden's entry.

The vote came after a meeting in Budapest between Sweden's Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Hungary's Viktor Orban, one of the few NATO leaders who has maintained close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

That meeting resulted in a military deal between the two countries where Hungary agreed to buy new Gripen planes from Sweden, which Orban said would result in "significantly increasing our military capabilities and further strengthening our ability to play a role abroad."

"Today we opened a new phase of cooperation between Hungary and Sweden with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson," Orban said on X Friday.

Sweden applied for NATO membership alongside Finland in May 2022 after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Finland's NATO bid was approved in April 2023 but Hungary, along with Turkey, long dragged their feet on approving Sweden.

Turkey ended its opposition to Sweden when its parliament approved Sweden's entry into NATO in January. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan and other leaders there had expressed concerns over anti-Muslim sentient in Sweden as a part of their initial opposition.