ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Hungary’s approval of Sweden’s NATO membership via GEÓVoice

Hungary’s approval of Sweden’s NATO membership – Everything you need to know via GEÓVoice

A day to celebrate NATO’s imperfect democratic decision-making

It has been a long-time coming, but Sweden has finally cleared the last hurdles to its NATO membership as the Turkish and Hungarian parliaments have ratified Sweden’s accession over the last few weeks. It is a shame it has taken this long—Sweden and Finland jointly applied for membership in May 2022—but the delay is a circumstance worth reflecting upon with some important insights into how NATO works.

In an alliance of thirty-two members, it is inevitable that allies will clash on certain issues. Bilateral disagreements between Stockholm and Ankara and Stockholm and Budapest contributed to the delay in getting Sweden’s membership across the line, showing the importance of constructive bilateral relations for keeping large institutions healthy.

It’s a bureaucratic finish to a process that began more than 650 days ago in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. What did the process reveal about the Alliance? And what will change with thirty-two allies? Below, Atlantic Council experts share their insights. Learn More /…