Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said today it was a ‘historic day’, after Hungary became the latest NATO member to approve the country’s request from 2022 to join the alliance in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
‘The parliaments of all NATO member states have now voted in favor of Sweden’s accession to NATO. “Sweden is ready to assume its responsibility for Euro-Atlantic security,” Kristersson said in a statement to X.
Sweden’s membership in NATO was supported by 188 legislators in the Hungarian parliament, with 6 against and no abstentions.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government has faced pressure from NATO allies to fall in line and seal Sweden’s accession to the alliance.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg immediately welcomed Hungary’s ratification. “Sweden’s accession will make us all stronger and more secure,” he said in X.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (R) and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (L) shake hands after a press conference following their meeting in Budapest, Hungary, on Friday.
A local resident prepares a damaged car for towing, near a residential building damaged during a Russian drone strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Dnipro, Ukraine, on Monday.
After Finland joined last year, Sweden’s membership – which today cleared the final hurdle with Hungary’s vote on ratification – means that all countries surrounding the Baltic Sea, except Russia, will be part of the military alliance. .
That has led some to label the sea a “NATO lake,” and Western allies now appear well positioned to strangle Russia’s room for maneuver in the crucial sea route if war with Moscow ever breaks out.
But analysts warn that while Sweden’s entry makes it easier for NATO to exert control and reinforce its vulnerable Baltic states, Russia can still threaten the region from the heavily armed exclave of Kaliningrad and threaten undersea infrastructure.
“If you look at a map, geographically the Baltic Sea is becoming a NATO lake, yes,” said Minna Alander, a researcher at the Finnish Institute of International Affairs.
“But there is still work to do for NATO.”
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a series of high-profile incidents involving pipelines and cables under the Baltic Sea have given NATO a wake-up call about its vulnerabilities.
In September 2022, a sabotage attack affected the Nord Stream gas pipelines between Russia and Europe. More than a year later, investigators have yet to publicly identify those responsible.
Then, last October, a gas pipeline and cable linking Finland and Sweden to Estonia were damaged. Finnish police say they believe a Chinese cargo ship was probably involved.
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson speaks during a press conference with his Hungarian counterpart Prime Minister Viktor Orban (not pictured) during a press conference following their meeting in Budapest, Hungary, on Friday.
NATO has beefed up its naval deployments in response and is looking to increase its monitoring capabilities, but keeping an eye on what happens underwater is an important task.
“It is very difficult to have global control of a sea as one would control land territories,” said Julian Pawlak, a researcher at Germany’s Bundeswehr University in Hamburg.
“What the Nord Stream sabotages have shown, among other things, is that it remains difficult to know exactly what is happening beneath the surface and at the bottom of the sea.”
Sweden has long had a close association with NATO, but its formal membership will allow it to fully integrate into the alliance’s defense plans.
Beyond its long Baltic coast, Sweden brings with it the island of Gotland, which would play a central role in helping NATO impose its will.
But just across the water, Russia has its own vital outpost: the Kaliningrad enclave.
Nestled between Poland and Lithuania, Moscow has in recent years turned the region into one of the most militarized in Europe, with nuclear-capable missiles stationed there.
Russia’s Kaliningrad-based Baltic Fleet is a shadow of its Cold War self and the invasion of Ukraine has sapped some of its forces from the region.
But John Deni, a research professor at the U.S. Army War College, said the Kremlin has maintained its investments in submarine capabilities and still has the firepower to conduct small-scale landings or threaten U.S. supply routes. NATO.
“In terms of artillery, indirect fire and nuclear-capable weapons, they outgun and outrange NATO allies in the region,” Deni said.
“Allies have to confront that threat and counter it.”
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban (R) and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (L) hold a news conference after their meeting in Budapest, Hungary, on Friday.
On the other hand, while Stockholm brings with it a rich heritage of naval history, like other NATO states in the area, its maritime power in the Baltic remains insufficient.
“Even if you count Sweden, NATO’s naval resources are relatively limited,” Deni said, adding that the allies need to develop their capacity to carry out demining under fire.
Three countries that are particularly relieved by the entry of Sweden – and Finland – are the Baltic states of NATO, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, long considered the Achilles heel of the alliance.
War planners have struggled to find a way to prevent them from being isolated if Russian ground troops seize the 65-kilometer (40-mile) Suwalki Gap between Belarus and Kaliningrad.
Sweden’s position straddling the North Sea and the Baltic Sea opens a key route for the transit of more NATO forces to protect them in case of attack.
“It allows U.S. forces to timely reinforce Baltic Sea nations, but especially frontline states,” said Tuuli Duneton, Estonian undersecretary for defense policy.
Despite NATO’s joy at welcoming Sweden into the fold, American academic Deni insisted that the alliance should stop considering the Baltic as its property.
“Calling it ‘NATO lake’ leads to complacency,” Deni said.
“The challenge and threat that Russia poses in the region is significant in some respects and allies for now lack the capacity to counter that in a crisis.”