Hungary–Sweden relations
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Hungary–Sweden relations are foreign relations between Hungary and
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
. Sweden has an embassy in Budapest, and in
Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
there is a Hungarian embassy. Diplomatic relations between the two countries started on 28 December 1945. These relations developed to a higher ambassador level. Both countries are members of the
Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...
, European Union, NATO and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.


History

Between July and December 1944, from the Swedish Embassy in Budapest, Raoul Wallenberg housed Jewish people and issued many protective passports, saving tens of thousands of Jewish lives in Hungary .


Formal diplomatic relations

Diplomatic relations between the two countries started on 28 December 1945. Both nations maintain ambassador level embassies in each other's capitals, Budapest and
Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
. The King of Sweden visited in October 1996.
Björn von Sydow Björn Gustaf von Sydow (born 26 November 1945) is a former speaker (''talman'') of the Riksdag, the Swedish parliament. He held this office following the 2002 election, when he succeeded Birgitta Dahl, until he was replaced on 2 October 2006. A ...
, who was the Swedish
defence minister A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
in Göran Persson's government between 1997 and 2002 took a formal visit in Budapest in 1996. Anna Lindh, the
Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs The Minister for Foreign Affairs ( sv, utrikesminister) is the foreign minister of Sweden and the head of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. The current Minister for Foreign Affairs is Tobias Billström of the Moderate Party. History The office ...
, was murdered in Stockholm, and the Hungarian Minister for Foreign Affairs honored her with a memorial on 28 May 2004 in Budapest's City Park.


International agreements and organisations

After the revolutions of 1989 and the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, Hungary and Sweden saw fit to join several of the same intergovernmental organisations.


Council of Europe

Sweden was a founding member of
Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...
on 5 May 1949. Hungary joined on 6 November 1990.


European Union

Sweden joined the European Union on 1 January 1995, alongside Austria and Finland, while Hungary joined the EU on 1 May 2004 alongside 9 other (mostly former Soviet & Soviet satellite) states.


North Atlantic Treaty Organisation

Hungary joined NATO alongside the Czech Republic and Poland on 12 March 1999 in the fourth enlargement of NATO. Sweden, along with Finland, applied to join NATO on 17 May 2022, and the two countries were formally invited to join the alliance when the accession protocols were signed on 5 July. This started the ratification process in which all 30 current members must approve any applicant if they are to become a member. 28 member states had ratified the Swedish application by 28 September 2022, the confirmations of which were formally registered by 14 October. The last two holdouts were Hungary and Turkey. The Hungarian government submitted the relevant documents to the National Assembly in July, but the latter declined to process the request before it was
prorogued A legislative session is the period of time in which a legislature, in both parliamentary and presidential systems, is convened for purpose of lawmaking, usually being one of two or more smaller divisions of the entire time between two elections ...
for the year. In October, the
Finnish President The president of the Republic of Finland ( fi, Suomen tasavallan presidentti; sv, Republiken Finlands president) is the head of state of Finland. Under the Constitution of Finland, executive power is vested in the Finnish Government and the p ...
along with Finnish and Swedish media speculated that Hungary was delaying their approval of the Nordic applications in order to maintain political leverage on EU matters, though they regarded Turkey's approval as a more significant obstacle. Turkey approved Sweden's admission in January 2024. The Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, stated in November that he expected parliament to ratify Swedish accession when they reconvene in mid-February. Instead the ratification vote was postponed several times by the Hungarian parliament. On the 29th of March, 2023, the spokesman for Orbán, Zoltán Kovács, wrote on his blog a list of grievances that needed to be addressed before Sweden’s admission could be ratified. Hungary's parliament voted to support Sweden's admission on February 26, 2024.Hungary's Parliament Approves Sweden’s NATO Bid After Stalling
'' New York Times'', Andrew Higgins, February 26, 2024. Retrieved February 27, 2024.


Military relations

Both Hungary and Sweden have been aligned with NATO in the post-Cold War era. Hungary joined NATO in 1999, and Sweden joined in 2024.


Saab JAS 39 Gripen

Shortly after Hungary joined NATO in 1999, a push was made to replace the Air Force's
MiG-29 The Mikoyan MiG-29 (russian: Микоян МиГ-29; NATO reporting name: Fulcrum) is a twin-engine fighter aircraft designed in the Soviet Union. Developed by the Mikoyan design bureau as an air superiority fighter during the 1970s, the Mi ...
fleet with a NATO-compatible fighter force. By 2001, several offers had been received, including a Swedish offer of 24 JAS 39 C/D's, and a US offer of 24 used F-16's. Despite the fact that the professional committees favored the F-16, on 10 September 2001, the Swedish bid won. On 20 December 2001, Hungary signed a contract with the Swedish Government in order to lease 14 JAS 39 Gripens, for 12 years beginning in 2006. By December 2007 all 14 jets had been delivered. In 2012, Hungary decided to extend the lease until March 2026. The aircraft were upgraded in 2017 and 2022. After the lease period expires, Hungary will own the remaining Gripens.


Resident diplomatic missions

* Hungary has an embassy in
Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
. * Sweden has an embassy in Budapest.


See also

* Foreign relations of Hungary * Foreign relations of Sweden * Hungarian diaspora


References


External links


Hungarian-Swedish relations



swedenabroad.com/budapest
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hungary-Sweden relations
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
Bilateral relations of Sweden