Hungary announced on Friday the purchase of four fighter aircraft from Sweden, showing Budapest's desire to strengthen military cooperation with Stockholm, three days before the scheduled vote in the Hungarian parliament to allow Sweden to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the latest to obstruct Stockholm's membership in NATO, announced the signing of this contract on the occasion of the visit of his Swedish counterpart, Ulf Christersen, to the capital, Budapest.
“Today we reached an agreement to add four aircraft to the Gripen fighter-bomber fleet of the Hungarian Defense Forces,” which uses 14 aircraft under a lease contract, Orban said during a press conference with Christersen.
Orban added that it is “an important step in a long process (…) of rebuilding confidence.”
For his part, the Swedish Prime Minister said, “The conversation was constructive.” He added, “We do not agree on everything, but we agree to work more actively when we have common ground.”
“final seal”
Earlier on Friday, Viktor Orban, who has maintained his opposition to Sweden's joining the alliance for months, confirmed that the Hungarian parliament “will put the final seal on the treaty” of Sweden's accession to NATO on Monday.
The Scandinavian country submitted an application to join NATO in May 2022.
Hungary had pledged not to be the last country to give the green light to Sweden's membership in NATO. But, in the end, it was preceded by the Turkish Parliament, which agreed to join in January, after months of negotiations.
Turkey initially rejected Sweden's request to join NATO due to Stockholm harboring groups that Ankara considers “terrorist.” It demanded that Sweden undertake a series of reforms, and later stipulated that it also approve a deal to sell fighter jets.
In order to meet Ankara's conditions, Sweden amended its constitution and approved a new anti-terrorism law. Other steps requested by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were taken.
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