Posted on 02/26/2024 8:29:51 AM PST by Miami Rebel
BUDAPEST — At last, Sweden will get to join NATO.
Sweden cleared the final hurdle to become the military alliance's 32nd member after Hungary — the last holdout among the countries — held a parliamentary vote to approve the move.
In recent years, Russia's invasion of Ukraine pushed Sweden away from its decades of military non-alignment and towards the world's biggest military alliance. Sweden’s accession comes amid increasing uncertainty over NATO’s future, as the Republican frontrunner in the U.S. presidential race, Donald Trump, threatens to abandon security guarantees for at least part of Europe.
Advertisement Budapest finally made the move on Monday, with the parliament voting 188 to 6 votes in favor of the resolution.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has maintained contact with Russia’s Putin in defiance of Western pressure, withheld approval of Sweden's bid for more than 600 days.
Now, all existing NATO allies have now ratified the membership status of Sweden. A flag-raising ceremony is expected at NATO headquarters in Brussels later this week, less than a year after fellow Nordic country Finland joined the alliance.
Orbán gave his final nod just before the weekend, when his Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson, flew to Budapest and signed a defense deal following years of what Orbán called "damned" relations over human rights and the rule of law in his increasingly politically repressive country.
For now, Russia is the biggest loser of Sweden joining NATO.
Moscow has threatened Sweden and Finland since both countries decided to turn toward NATO. Since the two Nordic countries began the process to join the alliance, the West has tightened its grip on the Baltic Sea, complicating a vital transit route for the Russian navy.
The Russian embassy in Stockholm called Sweden "a legitimate target for Russia’s retaliatory measures" last year, while Finland closed the border with Russia after finding "systematic" and "organized" efforts by the Russian authorities to send African migrants into Finnish territories.
To all the more knowledged people in FR, is this a bad move or a good move?
I don’t think NATO as long for this world, it has devolved into a corrupt, self-serving bureaucracy that has far outlived its purpose. Sweden is it going to feel like the rube who paid the night club’s cover charge 10 minutes before closing time.
Someone posted the Finish are building more gun ranges and encouraging citizens to be armed. HUH?
The West is stronger than ever, Putin and his fanbois on this site will be saddened.
Its purpose is deterring a Russian invasion of Europe, which is extremely relevant today and why countries are flocking to join.
Weird how two countries with histories of scores of years of neutrality aren’t as clearsighted as an internet typist.
Good. Russia invading its neighbors is bad - this dramatically improves the security situation for the Baltic states (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia) and reduces the chance that the United States will be thrown into a shooting war with the Russians.
Russia went to war for, among other reasons, to defend against NATO incursion to its southwest. In return it now faces a vastly more potent and extensive adversary on its northwest flank.
A blow to Russia?
Do they think the Russians might think that Sweden will join with them in a war against the West?
Are the Russians “skeered” of little ole Sweden who can’t even control its own borders, who can’t even control its immigrant gang violence?
It is not the Russians who will destroy Europe, Europe is doing it to itself, and in a furious hurry, and with little bloodshed at all.
Sweden survived because of neutrality. Should war break out, they will be destroyed in 15 minutes.
You can't be serious.
We're about as strong as the Roman Empire was in 400 A.D.
Might look strong from the outside. The military can still win some major battles. But the internal rot is deep and total collapse is near.
“Sweden survived because of neutrality. Should war break out, they will be destroyed in 15 minutes.”
Just fifteen minutes? That’s even shorter than the 3 days it was supposed to take for Ukraine to fall.
Swedish society will be effectively Muslim in an other generation. Two tops. There may still be a non-Muslim majority, but much of that will be in nursing homes.
Someone posted the Finish are building more gun ranges and encouraging citizens to be armed. HUH?
So yes, Finland has some history with Russia and with Russia feeling expansiony, joining NATO seems like a good idea to them.
Neither Russia or Ukraine will be allowed to end this war.
Our only hope for ending this war is President Trump 47/2024.
Sweden had a nuclear weapons program that they supposedly shut down in the 1970s. They have a very technically proficient arms industry.
Only if it is a "mutually assured destruction" event. In that case, Russia will also be destroyed.
Russia has become a "petroleum state". It can afford a corrupt government because it is propped up by its production of oil, and because it has grown used to corrupt, authoritarian government for over a hundred years.
It does not have the population or industrial resources to invade and conquer Europe in a conventional war. However, it could cause immense destruction and insane waste (as it is currently doing in Ukraine) in an attempt to conquer Europe.
“Neither Russia or Ukraine will be allowed to end this war.”
What is the obstacle to Russian ending the war yesterday?
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