Valid worries? Sweden fears Hungary will keep it out of NATO

After signals from Hungary, Sweden is “less certain” that it will be a member of the alliance by July, Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström said on Thursday. Last week, the foreign minister was confident that the NATO accession would take place soon. However, by Thursday, his hopes had faltered.

Last week, Tobias Billström said he was confident that his country would be a member of the NATO by July, the next NATO summit in Vilnius, Index reports. However, he was not so sure by Thursday. He told the following to Swedish news agency TT yesterday:

“I have taken note of what has been said in recent days, especially from the Hungarian side (…) I think the word hopeful is more appropriate in the current context.”

Sweden, together with its neighbour Finland, applied to join the alliance last May. To become members of the organisation, all 30 member states must accept and ratify the bids. Finland’s application has already been approved by the Hungarian Parliament: we reported about it here.

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