Hungary's parliament ratifies Sweden's NATO bid

Hang on - weren't some of the pro-fascists insisting that "Hungary would never allow this"? As usual, proven totally wrong.

Good to see NATO getting bigger and stronger - thanks entirely to the illegal invasion of sovereign Ukraine by fascist Russia.

It is a big step, we must take that seriously

It should not surprise reasonable people to see European nations have recognized that Russia under Putin is expansionist, and that Russia wants to re-establish some form of its empire ala the Soviet Union, and European leaders with a knowledge of history want to stop further Russian spread, and to do that requires cooperation among the democratic nations of Europe and the world that want to maintain the sovereignty they fought for agaiunst the threats of various imperial regimes.Too bad the extreme right in the US have not learned from history, maybe because they have not yet been attacked therough military warfare by a despotic nation like Russia. Or maybe simply because they are thick and members of a rabid cult.

Are you proud of that change?

The Swiss are still neutral. They are the smart ones.

Sweden haven't been neutral for a long time, we have just felt safe with Finland in between us and Russia so never felt the need to spend the money. Same with Swiss, they are only neutral because they are in a safe spot, and also because they hand out passports like candy to the rich and elite of all those dictatorships, so at this point it would be hard for them to get a vote through even if they wanted to.

Are you proud of that change?

The Swiss are still neutral. They are the smart ones.

Sweden haven't been neutral for a long time, we have just felt safe with Finland in between us and Russia so never felt the need to spend the money. Same with Swiss, they are only neutral because they are in a safe spot, and also because they hand out passports like candy to the rich and elite of all those dictatorships, so at this point it would be hard for them to get a vote through even if they wanted to.

ThubanToday 07:30 am JST

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said his country was “now leaving 200 years of neutrality and nonalignment behind us."

Are you proud of that change?

The Swiss are still neutral. They are the smart ones.

How come Russia couldn't be proud to be neutral for (checks watch) 17 years?

BUDAPEST, Hungary

Hungary’s parliament voted Monday to ratify Sweden's bid to join NATO, ending more than 18 months of delays that frustrated the alliance as it sought to expand in response to Russia's war in Ukraine.

There is no need to mislead people. NATO expanded east several times, deliberately toward Russia's borders. NATO's latest plans to admit Ukraine into the alliance played a role. so even without war, NATO clearly followed its strategy. Everyone has their own point of view on this matter, so there is no need for loud statements here

NATO increasing in size is a direct response to Putin's attempt to push Russian borders on NATO by taking over Ukraine as a pretense to invading NATO nations.

Fantastic. Now they can deal with the Russia, North Korea and Iran axis of troublemakers.

Better late than never, Hungary's PM Orban clearly extracted some serious concessions from EU and NATO.

Putin didn’t want NATO to grow in Eastern Europe but(!) there’s something called Northern Europe; last year, we added 1300 km to the alliance’s frontier with Russia and now Sweden (pretty close to Russia I’d say). Article 5, my Nordic friends, you can relax now. Welcome, Sweden. :)

HopeSpringsEternal

Better late than never, Hungary's PM Orban clearly extracted some serious concessions from EU and NATO.

That’s some serious copium right there!

nik

There is no need to mislead people. NATO expanded east several times, deliberately toward Russia's borders. NATO's latest plans to admit Ukraine into the alliance played a role. so even without war, NATO clearly followed its strategy. 

NATO had no plans to admit Ukraine into NATO when Putin invaded. Putin even admitted that NATO wasn’t why he invaded Ukraine, during his interview with Tucker.

I read Russia is now using 40% of its economy for military purposes. How long until Putin ends up like Qadafi.

Thuban,

("Sweden neutral") - guess you don't know how that works!

Being a member of NATO you will fight for any member country in case of an attack!

This much concerning your "neutral thoughts"!

PUTAin really achieved so much during those 2 years of his aggression against Ukraine.

Several valuable members of his gang drank tea.

Others decided to take a jump out of a window.

Roughly 410.000 marauders KIA.

Several vessels sent to the bottom of the sea.

Several planes joining the scrap metal collection.

Russian economy looking not so good.

The West standing more united than before.

Voluntary NATO expansion by Sweden.

More military hardware supply for Ukraine (especially once Olaf Cunctator Maximus makes up his mind).

And more to follow.

Ukraine prevails!

Hungary extorted some Gripen fighter jets out of Sweden - less stuff that could go to Kyiv.

And Sweden joining doesn't change the calculus for Kyiv, whose days are numbered. They are curtains.

Hungary extorted some Gripen fighter jets out of Sweden - less stuff that could go to Kyiv.

sounds like someone enjoying that brief moment of bright sunshine when the eye of a hurricane passes overhead.

I’m sure Saab is happy to sell Gripens to both Hungary and Ukraine…

Outstanding news, and about time too. Orban always yields once he remembers that he needs the EU and its money, and that relying on dictators like Putin and Xi is actually not a great idea, despite all his rhetoric.

Putin's supposed aim was to stop NATO enlargement; he has gotten the opposite. NATO also now has two more countries (Sweden and Finland) that are experts in Arctic warfare, which will be extremely useful as competition in that theater continues to increase.

nikToday 08:17 am JST

NATO expanded east several times, deliberately toward Russia's borders.

It expanded because countries asked to join it. They wanted to join to guard against Russian aggression: and they were 100% right in their calculations.

They were also completely free to join Putin's CSTO. But they didn't, as Russia is not a partner, but a threat. Or, at best, a wholly unreliable partner: just ask Armenia:

https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/armenia-freezes-participation-russia-led-security-bloc-prime-minister-2024-02-23/

Hang on - weren't some of the pro-fascists insisting that "Hungary would never allow this"? As usual, proven totally wrong.

I remember that. I think it’s the media they consume.

They have since moved on to the ‘We don’t care anyway’ stage.

The other members should kick Hungary out of NATO until they get rid of that tool Orban. He's just a Putin puppet.

ThubanToday 07:30 am JST

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said his country was “now leaving 200 years of neutrality and nonalignment behind us."

> Are you proud of that change?

> The Swiss are still neutral. They are the smart ones.

The Swiss have never truly been neutral. They just try to play whatever side gives them an advantage.

Nice! Sorry, pro-fascists. Also, the Swiss are free riders, so unless you would encourage your children to act like that, don’t encourage nations to free-ride either.

“Hungary is a sovereign country. It does not tolerate being dictated by others, whether it be the content of its decisions or their timing,” Orban said.

Honey - you stopped being a sovereign and independent country the second you entered EU and NATO. Last year Hungary was one of the biggest EU funds beneficiary, at more than 4 billion EU. You can claim sovereignty and national (Russian) interests are more important the second you stop using EU and Nato money then:

https://www.statista.com/chart/18794/net-contributors-to-eu-budget/

Congratulations to Sweden, now they can also be targeted by Russia's strategic nuclear triad. NATO membership has its privileges!

Let's hope Trump quickly reins in NATO insane eastward expansion and global destabilization polices centered on weaponizing Ukraine as their proxy fighting force.

As World needs to get back Peaceful & Prosperity ASAP, not continued militarization and global destabilization so masterfully engineered by Biden Admin insiders.

HopeSpringsEternalToday 01:07 pm JST

Congratulations to Sweden, now they can also be targeted by Russia's strategic nuclear triad. NATO membership has its privileges!

They were probably a target anyways as Russia is a belligerent little sh*t.

Let's hope Trump quickly reins in NATO insane eastward expansion and global destabilization polices centered on weaponizing Ukraine as their proxy fighting force.

Let's hope either Biden wins or Trump is too constrained to carry out any sort of appeasement agenda.

As World needs to get back Peaceful & Prosperity ASAP, not continued militarization and global destabilization so masterfully engineered by Biden Admin insiders.

World needs to put a stop to Russian expansionism.

this shall be the biggest achievement of Putin, thank you and please we let the NATO grow stronger, bigger and more united!

NATO so strong it's being massively outproduced in artillery shells and air defense missiles by Russia?

Meanwhile US military commitments due to Ukraine proxy war contagion continue to grow and spread far and wide globally. Making Ukraine's military comeback mission impossible, as Ukrainians flee abroad daily.

NATO eastward expansion efforts could easily lead to WW III. Any surprise there's no new democracies? No sane country wants Ukraine like junior proxy partner status.

From NATO: "In 2014, NATO Heads of State and Government agreed to commit 2% of their national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to defense spending, to help ensure the Alliance's continued military readiness. The 2% of GDP guideline is an important indicator of the political resolve of individual Allies to contribute to NATO’s common defense efforts.

"In 2024, 18 Allies are expected to spend at least 2% of their GDP on defense – a six-fold increase since 2014, when only three Allies met the 2% or more guideline."

Progress? Yes. But note: 18 "allies" out of...31! Fully 42% of the "alliance" members still, in 2024, FAIL to live up to their treaty commitments!

"The nations falling short of the alliance's target in 2023 were France (1.90%), Montenegro (1.87%), North Macedonia (1.87%), Bulgaria (1.84%), Croatia (1.79%), Albania (1.76%), the Netherlands (1.70%), Norway (1.67%), Denmark (1.65%), Czech Republic (1.50%), Portugal (1.48%), Italy (1.46%), Canada (1.38%), Slovenia (1.35%), Turkey (1.31%), Spain (1.26%), Belgium (1.13%) and Luxembourg (0.72%).

Welcome to the "Alliance", Sweden. Now...which type of member will you be? Will you be a Hungary (2.43% of GDP spent on defense, far in EXCESS of the 2%), or will you be a Canada or France (both with trillion plus dollar economies, yet still free-riding in terms of defense commitments on the backs of others' spending)?

Hungary was the last major hurdle vote wise to get Swedish NATO inclusion... so they took advantage of the situation to squeeze money and favors.