The main point of the Turkish-Hungarian cooperation was not to leave them alone against the Swedes – Zsolt Németh

"It is extremely gratifying that after the agreement with the Finns, the Turkish-Swedish agreement has now also been reached. In my opinion, Hungary's approach to the matter has contributed to this. We have reason to be pleased that this agreement has been successfully concluded,"

Zsolt Németh, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Hungarian Parliament, said on InfoRádió's Aréna programme over the weekend. Responding to the suggestion that while the Turks had made their expectations very clear, it was difficult for outsiders to understand what it was that Hungary had wanted from the Swedes, Zsolt Németh said that the Swedish-Turkish debate had created political opportunities for Hungary.

"Undeniably, things were very closely coordinated between the Turkish and the Hungarian diplomats throughout, right up to the very last moment. We were confident that if we complied with the Turkish proposals and requests, we could contribute to the agreement. This has now been affirmed," he said, pointing out that he was also a member of the delegation that travelled to Sweden and Finland before the start of the ratification debate.

Zsolt Németh said that the subject of Swedish accession was now awaiting the final vote at Parliament and that he believed the Turkish Parliament would be catching up with the Hungarian position in the coming months. He also said that one of the reasons why Hungary had a specific agenda on Swedish accession to NATO was, for example the fact that the current Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, had "actively lobbied within the European People's Party for the exclusion of Fidesz".

When asked whether the point of the Hungarian-Turkish collaboration on the matter was not to leave Turkey alone in their dispute with Sweden, Zsolt Németh replied that

"if one really wants to reduce it down to just one thing, they can certainly do so".

He said it was a complicated diplomatic game that had brought us to this point. "Tracing it back to a single reason wouldn't be easy, but I welcome the fact that the whole package has been agreed upon and can contribute to consolidating Turkey's place and role within NATO and concerning international security in the forthcoming period," he said.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced last week that Turkey has expressed its support for Sweden's accession. It was after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war last year that Sweden and Finland decided to give up their long-standing military independence and request joining NATO in May 2022. At last year's NATO summit, it still looked as if it was only a matter of months before the two countries – both of which are militarily strong – could join the alliance. In June last year, it was finally decided that the way to NATO was clear for both Sweden and Finland.

Before summer was out, all members of the alliance – with the exception of Turkey and Hungary – had ratified the Swedish and Finnish accession. In this article, we summarized the events of the past year and showed that while the Hungarian government claimed that the main reason for the delayed approval was that Swedish politicians have “offended” Hungary in recent years, the real reason most likely had to do with coordinating with Turkey.