Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom has said he was no longer sure his country would be able to join NATO by July, following recent objections from Hungary on top of those from Turkiye.
"I have noted the things that have been said in recent days, especially from Hungary's side, and that means you always have reason to alter your words. I think 'hopeful' in this context is better," Billstrom told Swedish media.
Barely last week, the very same Billstrom said that "it went without saying" that Sweden would become a member by the time of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania in July.
Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that ensuring Sweden's accession to the bloc was his "aim."
Sweden applied to join the military alliance together with neighboring Finland in May 2022, citing changes in Europe's security landscape as a result of Russia's special operation in Ukraine. In doing so, both nations effectively abandoned the vestiges of their historic non-alignment, having been partners of NATO and members in all but name.
However, Sweden's bid ran into opposition from Turkiye, which has accused Stockholm of harboring members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Ankara and its Western allies consider a terrorist group.
Relations deteriorated even further in early 2023 due to a spate of provocations around Sweden. Among others, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan was hanged in effigy and a copy of the Muslim holy book, the Quran, was burned during a protest near the Turkish embassy in Stockholm. The Swedish minority government, led by the liberal-conservative Moderates, assured that it took Turkiye's allegations seriously but added there are some demands that it cannot meet.
The Hungarian government, in turn, voiced grievances over Stockholm's past criticism of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, the ruling Fidesz party's politics and the overall state of democracy in Hungary. Budapest said it regarded these criticisms as unjustified and called on Stockholm to refrain from "insults."
As Sweden's bid clearly faltered, the two neighbors split ways despite their original intention to "walk the NATO aisle together." In stark contrast, Finland's NATO membership gained full acceptance from the bloc's thirty member states despite initial opposition from Turkiye and delay from Hungary, which this week became the last members to vote on the issue.
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said Finland was ready to join NATO and is looking forward to welcoming Sweden to follow suit "as soon as possible."