Hungary votes to approve Sweden’s NATO membership Key Points Hungary on Monday voted to approve Sweden’s NATO accession bid, bringing to a close months of diplomatic back-and-forth and finalising Stockholm’s membership after almost two years. The Scandinavian country will become the 32nd to join NATO, bringing it into the fold of Article 5 of the treaty, which vows that an attack on one member is an attack on all of them. In a meeting in Budapest on Friday, Orban and his Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson vowed to overcome their differences and noted that they were “prepared to die for each other.” https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/26/hungary-votes-to-approve-swedens-nato-membership.html Party time! Sweden is in! NATO is a helluva lot stronger now than it was before.
B to B....Baltic to Black Sea....Gulf of Finland/Bothnia, Baltic, are now NATO territory. I remain master strategist!?!
Getting approval from the Hungarian parliament was the final hurdle for Stockholm joining NATO. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson visited Budapest on Friday to discuss defense and security cooperation with his Hungarian counterpart, Viktor Orban. The two sides appeared to reconcile, agreeing on a deal that would see Hungary acquire four new Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets. https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/26/europe/sweden-nato-accession-hungary-intl/index.html Interesting that some Gripen fighter jets were involved in the deal.
Looks like they needed to "sweeten" the deal a little bit. Also as a sign of good will and faith. One country giving another country something that involves advanced military technology shows that they are friendly and an alliance exists. Hungary had previously been ostracized (a little bit) from the rest of Western European countries (the bedrock of NATO) for leaning towards the Right and refusing to take in migrants. Lots or rhetoric. But now in this situation, Russia is seen as the bigger enemy.
.....and the Peskov standard response to situations like this being.... 1 “NATO is an aggressive alliance” 2 “This crosses a critical red line” 3 “The West will face terrible consequences for this” 4 “We remind you Russia is the world’s largest nuclear power” 5 “This is entirely meaningless & a non issue”
NATO is expanding like never before, and Finland and Sweden are not members with tiny militaries like Estonia. Every male in Finland service in the military, so they have a very large reserve.
Both countries have been arming and training for a possible rematch with Russia. Both have had to deal with their fascist imperialistic belligerence before.
Finland has been training and arming (and fighting) since they became independent in 1916, but Sweden has not fought war since 1814.
1 hr 23 min ago Swedish prime minister says Russia will not like their accession to NATO From CNN's Lauren Kent and Li-Lian Ahlskog Hou in London Sweden can expect that Russia will "not like" the country's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said Monday. "As for Russia, the only thing we can safely expect is that they do not like Sweden becoming a NATO member. They didn't like Finland becoming a NATO member either," Kristersson said at a news conference in Stockholm, highlighting that Russia's ambitions to limit NATO expansion have backfired. Kristersson also noted the historic nature of his country's ascension into the alliance. "Sweden is leaving behind 200 years of neutrality and non-alignment. It's a big step and something to take seriously but it is also a very natural step that we take. Membership in NATO means that we now come home to a large number of democracies' cooperation for peace and freedom. A very successful cooperation," Kristersson said. Earlier on Monday, Hungary's parliament approved Sweden's bid to join NATO, clearing the last hurdle for the country to become the 32nd member of the military alliance. Live updates: https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/russia-ukraine-war-news-02-26-24/index.html
Kremlin will be upset.....but can't do Jack $hit. 90% of its military is neck deep in $hit in Ukraine. 10% is back home ....on standby in case of riots and insurrection.
Putin ‘strengthens’ Nato's resolve to fight Russian threats “We need a strong Nato. The stronger Nato is, the greater the chances that Russia will do nothing against any of Nato’s members.” Nato has become “more realistic” about the threat from Russia than ever before, says Colonel Brendan Kearney, military affairs analyst and former Chief of Staff for U.S.
