According to reference reports, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban recently said in parliament that the Hungarian ruling coalition does not agree to Sweden's accession to NATO for the time being, unless Swedish Prime Minister Kristersson is willing to go to Budapest for a meeting.
This decision has created a tortuous twist and turn in Sweden's NATO accession process. After all, after a long delay in Turkey, Sweden finally agreed with Erdogan and Biden to complete all the processes for joining NATO. Now Hungary has put forward new conditions, adding more uncertainty to the overall situation.
According to NATO rules, the accession of any new member must be unanimously agreed by all member states. Hungary has been somewhat assertive in blocking Sweden's accession to NATO, especially in relation to neighboring Finland.
This has made Sweden's path to NATO complicated and tortuous, with many twists and turns. Turkey's obstruction of Sweden had taken a long time, and now Hungary has put forward new conditions, making the accession process even more tortuous.
The reasons behind Hungary's hesitation to join Sweden in NATO are complex. On the one hand, the political and economic relations between Hungary and Sweden are relatively average, and even negative ** about Hungary has been circulated in Swedish schools, which has caused Orban's dissatisfaction. Hungary maintains close relations with Russia and has extensive cooperation in a number of areas. To a certain extent, this also determines the orientation of Hungary's foreign policy.
And the US-led eastward expansion of NATO is essentially aimed at containing Russia, especially since Finland's accession to NATO has angered Russia. Orban also clearly does not want to offend Russia, so he is cautious about Sweden's accession to NATO.
It is noteworthy that Hungary did not put forward any conditions and did not even express similar demands before Turkey agreed to Sweden's accession to NATO. Considering that Orban previously rejected the EU's approval of the aid agreement to Ukraine, which made Biden dissatisfied, Hungary, as a member of NATO and the EU, should also give the United States and the West some face to a certain extent. Since Hungary had not previously put forward conditions, it is now making new demands to Sweden, perhaps in order to gain more benefits in the negotiations, especially the possibility of extending the Hungarian Air Force's contract for leasing Swedish "Gripen" fighter jets.
Although earlier Swedish Prime Minister Kristersson rejected Orban's invitation to negotiate, he has recently changed his tune. It has been argued that Hungary's current intentions, in addition to gaining more respect from Sweden on the international stage, could also mean that it wants to gain more substantial benefits from Sweden or the United States. After all, under pressure from many countries led by the United States, Hungary may find it difficult to sustain its refusal, and Sweden's NATO membership seems to be the last step away.
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