Hungarian Parliament Ratifies Sweden's NATO Accession

On February 26, after over a year and a half of anticipation, the Hungarian Parliament ratified Sweden's accession to the North Atlantic Alliance. A total of 188 deputies voted in favour of the decision, with only six parliamentarians opposing it, according to the Hungarian publication 444.hu.

Formally, the ratification process will be completed upon the signing of the ratification protocol by the President of Hungary and its publication in the official gazette. It is expected to occur next week.

"I welcome the Hungarian Parliament's vote to ratify Sweden's membership in NATO. Now that all Alliance members have approved this decision, Sweden will become the 32nd member of the Alliance. Sweden's membership will make us all stronger and safer," said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

Hungary was the last NATO member country to withhold its consent for Sweden's accession to the Alliance. Budapest had expressed its support for Sweden's accession for some time, promising not to be the last to do so. However, the ratification in the Hungarian Parliament occurred later than in Turkey, which also delayed this Scandinavian country's entry into the Alliance and actively criticized Sweden for its "insufficient fight against terrorism."

It is worth noting that last week, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson visited Budapest. During the visit, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban spoke of "restoring trust in relations" and confirmed information that Sweden will sell four more Gripen fighters to Hungary and extend the agreement for their servicing.

Earlier, The Gaze reported that for the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that Ukraine has the right to strike "Russian military targets outside Ukraine" in accordance with international law.

In particular, in an interview with Radio Free Europe, the NATO Secretary General noted that the use of Western-provided weapons to target Russian assets has long been a subject of contention among Kyiv's allies due to fears of escalating the conflict.

It is worth mentioning that in recent months, Ukraine has increased the number of strikes on military targets in Russia using drones and long-range missiles. However, due to the West's sensitivity to such attacks, Kyiv does not take direct responsibility for them.