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Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met in Budapest on Friday.
Sweden has overcome the final hurdle to joining NATO, with the Hungarian parliament voting in favor of ratifying the country.
The Nordic country applied to join the Defense Alliance in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
All member states must recognize new participants, but Hungary delayed recognition and accused Sweden of being hostile to it.
But last week, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said the two countries were now “ready to die for each other.”
All NATO members are expected to assist allies under attack.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said it was a “historic day” and a “major step” for Sweden to abandon its 200-year neutrality.
“Sweden is a great country, but we join NATO to further protect ourselves and everything we believe in.”
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Hungary’s decision made the alliance “stronger and more secure.”
Parliamentary approval will require the president’s signature, after which a formal invitation will be sent to Sweden to join the 31-member group.
This process usually takes several days.
Mr. Orbán is a nationalist politician with close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin. He has repeatedly blocked EU efforts to send military aid to Ukraine.
Sweden is among the EU member states that have accused Hungary of backsliding on the EU’s democratic principles.
In response, Mr Orbán’s spokesman Zoltan Kovacs accused Swedish officials of sitting on a “crumbling throne of moral superiority”.
But last week, Orbán hosted Sweden’s Ulf Kristersson and expressed support for Sweden’s membership.
The vote by Hungarian parliamentarians on Monday was almost unanimous, 188-6.
In his speech, Orbán harshly criticized unnamed NATO allies who are pressuring the government to end the 21-month delay.
“Hungary is a sovereign nation and will not tolerate others dictating the content and timing of its decisions,” he said.
Turkey was another North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member that had successively withheld approval of Sweden’s applications over Sweden’s support for Kurdish separatists. In the end, the veto was lifted in January.
Sweden and its neighbor to the east, Finland, long considered military neutral, announced their intention to join NATO in May 2022.
Finland officially joined the alliance in April last year, doubling the length of its border with Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops to Ukraine in 2022 in hopes of halting NATO expansion and weakening Western collectivism.
In fact, the opposite happened when Sweden and Finland were added.
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