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Hungary accuses Sweden of not prioritising Nato application

Hungary accused Sweden of not taking steps to build more friendly bilateral relations in view of the Nordic country's bid to join Nato.

Published: 19 January 2024 06:52 CET

Hungary accuses Sweden of not prioritising Nato application

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whose chief of staff made the accusations. Photo: AP Photo/Denes Erdos

Hungary and Turkey are the only holdouts in Nato not to have ratified Sweden’s bid to join the defence alliance in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Turkey made its ratification of Sweden’s Nato application conditional on the US Congress “simultaneously” approving Ankara’s request for 40 F-16 fighter jets.

Hungary has repeatedly insisted it supports Sweden’s bid, but continuously dragged its feet on putting the issue for a vote in parliament.

Last September, Orban told parliament that ratifying Sweden’s Nato bid was not “urgent”, demanding “respect” from the Nordic country, a fellow EU member.

Budapest has often denounced what it called Stockholm’s “openly hostile attitude”, accusing Swedish representatives of being “repeatedly keen to bash Hungary” on rule-of-law issues.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, on Thursday noted a lack of “confidence-building steps” from Stockholm to improve relations.

Gulyas described their relationship as “legally an alliance, but can hardly be considered friendly”.

“I must therefore conclude that for Sweden, rapid Nato accession is not a priority at this time,” he added.

The senior government official suggested the Swedish government “should get in touch, ask what concerns the Hungarian Parliament has and what they can do about it”.

Responding to a question, Gulyas refused to reiterate an earlier promise by Orban – whose party alliance holds a supermajority in parliament – not to be the last to ratify Sweden’s bid.

“We want to avoid this situation, but without Swedish help, we probably can’t. If it is not important to the Swedes, why should it be important to us?”

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EXPLAINED: What you need to know about Sweden's new military spending report

What is the Swedish Defence Commision?

The Swedish Defence Commission is a cross-party forum which seeks to ensure broad political agreement around Sweden’s defence requirements. It brings together representatives of all eight parties in the Swedish parliament, with two each from the Moderates, Sweden Democrats and Social Democrats and one each for the other parties.

There are also advisers and experts from the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Finance, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Swedish Armed Forces, the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration and the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency. Members of the committee are supported by a secretariat comprising one principal secretary and five secretaries.

What is the report they have delivered?

The committee on Friday delivered its final, report, “Strengthened defence capability, Sweden as an Ally“, meeting the deadline given by the country’s defence minister Pål Jonson when he ordered the committee to develop proposals for a new defence bill in December 2022, with a total of four reports, the first three of which were delivered in April 2023, June 2023, December 2023.

What have they recommended?

The committee have recommended that Sweden’s budget is increased from 119 billion kronor a year in 2024 to 185 billion kronor in 2030, which would bring total spending to 2.6 percent of Sweden’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The committee said it agreed with the recommendations given by Micael Byden, Supreme Commander of the Swedish Armed Forces in November 2023, which were that Sweden should increase or improve:

air defence and in particular its cooperation within NATO’s Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD)
its ability to combat air, land and sea drones
its integration with NATO’s command system
its logistics, so that it can provide Host Nation Support and serve as a base for other units from other Nato countries.
its capacity to operate with military units outside Sweden’s borders

But the committee also made additional recommendations beyong those given by the armed forces, calling for:

two new army brigades, so that Sweden would have three mechanised brigades and one infantry brigade by 2030
a new Norrland Infantry Regiment,
an increase in the number of conscripts trained a year from the current level of 8,000 to 10,000 in 2030 and 12,000 in 2032, and possibly to 14,000 in 2035
a boost in Sweden’s air defence capability, particularly to counter drone attacks
stocking up on additional ammunition, including air-to-air and cruise missiles, and spare parts
20 new companies and platoons dedicated to defending Sweden’s territories
increased refresher courses for conscripts, extra funding of voluntary defence organisations, and expansion of the officer education programme

How will the cost of funding this military expansion be met?

While they were agreed on what needed to be done, party representatives on the committee did not agree on how much needed to be spent or how ti should be financed.

The Centre Party representative said that spending should be higher, comprising 3 percent of GDP.

The representatives from the Social Democrats, Left Party, and Green Party, added a statement to the report when they called for a section on how the extra spending should be financed.

Peter Hultqvist, who served as defence minister under the former Social Democrat government, called for a new beredskapsskatt, or “Readiness Tax” to fund the increase, saying it was disappointing that the committee had not been able to agree on financing.

“This demand is so big that it risks pushing other pressing requirements out of government spending plans,” he said. “There is a risk that healthcare, education and elderly care will be hit.”

But Ulf Kristersson, Sweden’s prime minister, rejected the idea of a new tax.

“It’s no secret that the parties on the left always see reasons to raise taxes, and that’s the case this time as well, I assume. But that is not our way forward,” he said. “We must be able to prioritise Swedish defense, and I understand that there is now complete agreement that it is an important political task.”

Anna Starbrink, a defence spokesperson for the Liberals, the smallest party in the government, said that the Swedish Defence Commission had not in the past been tasked with developing funding proposals.

“This is a new idea from the opposition and from the Social Democrats’ side is about nothing more than forcing through a new tax hike through the defence commission, and that’s something the rest of us don’t want to go along with,” she said.

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