All Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s MPs voted in favor of Sweden’s entry into NATO on Monday (26 February), bringing an end to his veto drama.
The motion passed with 188 votes in favor and only six against, with no abstentions, in the historic Országgyűlés parliament building in Budapest.
The 188 votes included all 135 MPs from the ruling Fidesz party and its satellite, the KDNP party, as well as pro-Western opposition MPs.
The six opposing votes came from the neo-Nazi Our Homeland Party.
Orbán himself gave a brief and uneventful speech to start the day’s proceedings, according to Iván László Nagy, a journalist at the HVG weekly in Hungary and an expert at the Visegrad Insight think-tank in Warsaw.
The debate briefly heated up when opposition MPs began calling Orbán’s party “paedo-Fidesz” and criticized his silence on Russia’s killing of Alexei Navalny on 16 February.
The insults regarding paedophilia came after the Hungarian president, a member of Orbán’s ultraconservative Fidesz party, resigned in a scandal on 10 February after pardoning a child abuser.
Meanwhile, Orbán remains the only EU leader willing to engage with Russian President Vladimir Putin, despite Putin being wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
“They [Fidesz MPs] appeared very defeated,” said Hungarian opposition MP Ágnes Vadai, describing the atmosphere in Monday’s vote despite the near-unanimous outcome.
Orbán had resisted becoming the last of 31 NATO allies to ratify Sweden’s entry, amidst Russia’s conflict in Ukraine.
He and his Fidesz supporters had strongly objected to perceived Swedish insults to Hungary’s honor, following criticism of Orbán’s rule of law violations.
In the end, Orbán received fewer concessions than he had hoped for before eventually backing down, under increasing pressure from the US.
Sweden agreed to enhance an arms contract with Hungary, and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson visited Orbán in Budapest last Friday to reach a compromise.
“Orbán received four additional Swedish Gripen fighter jets and ensured the Swedish leader’s visit to Budapest, despite his reluctance,” said Jamie Shea, a former NATO official now teaching war studies at Exeter University in the UK.
This was enough for Orbán to present it as a victory at home, which is his primary concern, according to Shea.
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If Fidesz MPs seemed “defeated” on Monday, it may have been due to their apathy rather than low morale, according to opposition Democratic Coalition party member Ágnes Vadai.
“Fidesz has a supermajority, granting them the ability to pass any legislation they desire. Everyone else is essentially there for show,” said László Nagy.
NATO and EU leaders welcomed the Hungarian decision on social media.
“The path is now clear for Sweden to join NATO – a win-win situation for all of us,” said German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
Sweden’s Kristersson stated, “Sweden is prepared to fulfill its responsibility for Euro-Atlantic security.”
The final steps for Sweden’s NATO entry, requiring Hungary and Sweden to deposit signed documents at NATO HQ in Brussels, can be completed in a few days.
The NATO expansion will bring strategically important territories in the High North and Baltic Sea under the Western security umbrella, despite Putin’s opposition to Western expansion.
This move comes just before Putin’s re-election on 15 March, with the outcome of the Russian vote being largely predetermined due to Putin’s actions against his opponents.
Shea noted that the Sweden-NATO decision is unlikely to impact Putin’s strongman image or the election results.
