Swedish PM Hails Country's Accession To NATO

Sweden will be the 32nd member of the NATO alliance.

The vote, which passed with 188 votes for and six against, came as a culmination of months of wrangling by Hungary's allies to convince its nationalist government to lift its block on Sweden's membership. I Photo: NATO Facebook

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said the country "stands ready to shoulder its responsibility" after the Hungarian parliament brought an end to more than 18 months of delays that have frustrated the alliance as it seeks to expand in response to Russia's war in Ukraine, Euronews reported.

"Today is a historic day. The parliaments of all NATO member states have now voted in favor of Swedish accession to NATO.

Sweden stands ready to shoulder its responsibility for Euro-Atlantic security," Kristersson wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Monday. Hungary's parliament had then just cleared the last major obstacle to the Nordic country's NATO membership by greenlighting its accession to the military alliance.

The vote, which passed with 188 votes for and six against, came as a culmination of months of wrangling by Hungary's allies to convince its nationalist government to lift its block on Sweden's membership.

The government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán submitted the protocols for approving Sweden's entry into NATO in July 2022, but the matter had stalled in parliament over opposition by governing party lawmakers, the Associated Press (AP) also reported.

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