Did Hungary's signature on 5 March 2024 clear Sweden's path into NATO?
A look back at the day Hungary's president signed the bill on Sweden's accession, set against Russian warnings and appeals from Transnistria.
Was the last formal obstacle to Sweden's NATO membership removed on 5 March 2024? On that day, Hungarian President Tamás Sulyok signed a bill formally authorising the Foreign Ministry to ratify Sweden's accession to the alliance.
The signature gave the ministry the legal authority to carry out ratification. It was a step in the process of NATO enlargement, and it came after the bill had been passed in Budapest.
Moscow's warning
Russia had already signalled its reaction. On 28 February 2024, it announced that it would take retaliatory "military-technical" steps in response to Sweden joining NATO. The announcement, made a week before Sulyok signed, set out Moscow's position on the enlargement.
Tension over Transnistria
The same day, 28 February 2024, officials in Transnistria appealed to the Russian Duma for more intervention in the region. Transnistria is a Russia-backed breakaway region that is internationally recognised as part of Moldova. The officials made the appeal amid increasing tension with the Moldovan government.
Taken together, the reports from late February and early March 2024 showed security questions in Europe moving on several fronts at once: a NATO accession nearing completion, a Russian pledge of countermeasures, and a call from a breakaway region for Moscow's greater involvement.
