Sweden ready to join NATO; Check out the European country’s bumpy road to NATO membership world News

STOCKHOLM: Sweden’s bid to join NATO – which had been stalled for nearly two years – passed its last hurdle when Hungary on Monday gave its approval for the Nordic country to join the alliance. This ended a delay of more than 18 months by the Nationalists. The government in Budapest has disappointed Hungary’s allies. All existing NATO countries must give their approval before any new member can join the alliance. Hungary was the only hold-out. Here’s a look at Sweden’s complicated path toward NATO membership:

Why does Sweden want to join NATO?

Sweden has stayed out of military alliances for more than 200 years and long refused NATO membership. But following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, it abandoned its long-standing policy of non-alignment almost overnight and decided to apply to join the alliance with neighboring Finland. Both Sweden and Finland, which joined the military alliance last year, had already developed strong ties to NATO after the end of the Cold War, but public opinion remained against full membership until the war in Ukraine.

Non-alignment was seen as the best way to avoid tensions with its powerful neighbor Russia in the Baltic Sea region. But Russian aggression led to dramatic changes in both countries, with polls showing increased support for NATO membership. Political parties in both Finland and Sweden decided that they needed the security guarantees that only come with full membership in the US-led coalition.

Why is it taking so long?

Finland became NATO’s 31st member in April, while Sweden’s application has been put on hold. All coalition members except Türkiye and Hungary gave their support. On 23 January, Turkish legislators voted in favor of Sweden’s membership in NATO. To allow Sweden to join, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan set a number of conditions, including a tough stance towards groups Turkey considers a threat to its security, such as Kurdish militants and members of a network known as He pleads guilty to a failed coup in 2016. The Swedish government tried to appease Erdogan by lifting an arms embargo on Turkey and promising to cooperate in fighting terrorism, in response to public demonstrations by supporters of the banned Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, in Sweden and the burning of Qurans by anti-Muslim activists. Performed by. Situation

Pressure from the US and other NATO allies on Turkey to overcome its objections to Swedish membership had little effect until Erdogan said at a NATO summit last year that he would send the documents to parliament for approval. . But the issue remained stalled in parliament until lawmakers finally voted on the issue and ratified Sweden’s accession protocol. The Turkish government finalized the move by publishing the measure in an official gazette.

Now Hungary’s parliament has approved Sweden’s bid to join NATO, ending more than 18 months of delay by the nationalist government. Initially, Hungary gave no clear reason for its delay and Prime Minister Viktor Orban long insisted that his country would not be the last to be sanctioned. But attitudes towards Stockholm hardened last year, when Hungary accused Swedish politicians of telling “sheer lies” about the state of Hungary’s democracy. Orbán has broken ties with NATO allies by adopting a Kremlin-friendly stance toward Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

What will Sweden bring to the alliance?

The inclusion of Sweden would make the Baltic Sea almost surrounded by NATO countries, strengthening the alliance in a strategically important region. The Baltic Sea is Russia’s maritime point of access to the city of Saint Petersburg and the Kaliningrad enclave. Sweden’s armed forces, although sharply reduced since the Cold War, are widely seen as a potential boost to NATO’s collective defense in the region. Sweden has a modern air force and navy and has committed to increasing defense spending to reach NATO’s target of 2% of GDP. Like the Finns, the Swedish military has participated in joint exercises with NATO for years.

How has Russia responded?

It is not surprising that Moscow reacted negatively to Sweden and Finland’s decisions to abandon non-alignment and seek NATO membership and warned of unspecified retaliatory measures. Russia said the move had an adverse impact on the security situation in Northern Europe, which was already one of the most stable. region in the world.” Earlier this year, Sweden’s top military commander, General Mikael Byden, said that all Swedes should be mentally prepared for the possibility of war, and on February 19, Sweden’s external intelligence service, MUST Chief Thomas Nilsson said that “the situation continues to deteriorate through 2023.” “In the event of NATO membership, we will have the ability to counter a recalcitrant and unpredictable Russia through the alliance,” the agency said in its assessment. Sweden and Finland have both warned of Russian interference and the increased risk of hybrid attacks.