Hungarian president Tamás Sulyok signs ratification of Sweden's NATO accession

Tamás Sulyok has signed the Parliament's approval of Sweden's accession to NATO made on 26 February 2024, the Presidential Palace has announced. This is the first decision of the new head of state, who has officially been president since midnight on Monday. He has already assumed his duties, even though he hasn't had an official inauguration ceremony yet.

An end to a year and a half of wrangling

After more than a year and a half of wrangling and message-sending by the Hungarian government, Parliament finally voted in favour of Sweden's accession to NATO last Monday. The proposal was adopted with 188 votes in favour and 6 against – the faction of far right Mi Hazánk voted against. Opposition MPs welcomed the result with applause.

Sweden and Finland decided to join NATO in May 2022, after the Russian-Ukrainian war broke out. Twenty-eight of the military alliance's thirty member states ratified the application almost immediately afterwards, with only Turkey and Hungary choosing to delay.

Although the government submitted the ratification proposal to parliament in July 2022, the vote kept being delayed on account of a variety of reasons:

• A social consultation – conducted via a hidden email address on the government's website – is underway.
• Parliament is busy – the government claimed it was busy adopting the proposals needed to reach a deal with the EU.
• There is a serious debate within the Fidesz-KDNP parliamentary group on the issue.
• The conflict with Sweden must be settled first – so a negotiating delegation was sent to Sweden.
• Insult – according to the Hungarian governing parties, the Swedes have insulted the Hungarians.
• The Swedish PM should come to Hungary first.

Ulf Kristersson finally came to Budapest on 23 February, and the ice was broken and almost completely melted within hours: the governing parties announced their support for the Swedish accession to NATO, claiming that the visit of the Swedish Prime Minister "took the relationship between the two countries in a very good direction".