Hungary acquired four Swedish-made fighter jets on Friday (Feb 23) just three days before Hungarian parliament is due to vote on Sweden joining on the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). Hungary is the last holdout before Sweden can join the alliance. Earlier on Friday, Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban told country’s state radio that “some pending (bilateral) military and arms issues” had to be worked out before the parliament “can put the final seal” on ratifying approval to Sweden’s bid.
But later, Orban reacted positively following talks with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
“Today, we have reached an agreement to add four aircraft to the Hungarian Defence Forces’ Gripen fleet,” said Orban.
“On Monday, the Hungarian parliament will meet and take the necessary decisions, and with this we have closed one phase and opened a new one,” he added.
On Friday, Kristersson was in the Hungarian capital Budapest.
“The conversation has been constructive and we have agreed to move forward in fields of common interests,” Kristersson said at a press conference after talks with Orban.
“We do not agree on everything, but we do agree that we should work more actively together when we have common ground,” he added.
Hungary already has 14 Jas-39 Gripen fighter jets which it operates under a leasing contract.
Sweden abandoned its decades-old stance of military neutrality after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022. The Nordic country then applied to join NATO, the alliance which considers an attack on any member nation as an attack on the whole alliance. In order to include new members, all existing members need to consent.
Hungary was the last NATO country to delay approval to Sweden’s bid. Turkey was another but it relented a few months ago. Orban government faced intense pressure from the US and fellow NATO countries to clear Sweden’s bid..=
(With inputs from agencies)
