An important aspect of NATO membership is the requirement that every new member receives an affirmative vote from all members. A negative vote can have the same impact on an application that a blackballing of a fraternity promise. So, as Finland crept closer to applying for NATO membership and Russian President Vladimir Putin and his henchmen became more shrill and incoherent in their threats, many thought Hungary’s Viktor Orban, coming off a major electoral victor on April 3 (see Hungarian Election Results Send the Left Into Fits of Rage and Viktor Orban’s Election Is Not a Win for Putin or a Loss for Zelensky and NATO, It Is a Win for Hungary), would carry Putin’s water for him and prevent Finland from joining NATO particularly since Finland and Hungary have recently engaged in heated rhetoric, with Finland accusing Hungary of violating the EU Charter.
On Wednesday, Finland’s President Sauli Niinistö called Viktor Orban to discuss Hungary’s support for a possible Finnish application for membership.
Source: MTV Uutisethttps://t.co/cUQnM6qV7b
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) April 20, 2022
It appeared that Finland’s accession to NATO was a done deal on Thursday.
According to reports, Erkki Tuomioja, the Finnish Foreign Affairs Committee’s Deputy Chairmen, told the Swedish Parliament that Finland would submit its proposal for NATO membership within the next two weeks. This comes at a time when Sweden is also moving toward joining NATO this Summer. pic.twitter.com/ZkpOdIKDns
— OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) April 21, 2022
Finnish long-term #NATOKritik Erkki Tomioja in Sweden (social democratic): “It’s all a done deal, regardless my personal opinion.”
— adam seven 🇫🇮 🇪🇺 (@a7_FIN_SWE) April 21, 2022
Orban paving the way for Finland to join NATO is one of the least “Putin tool” things Orban could do. That was certainly not what I had in mind for my bingo card. As I noted in my post about Orban, he’s not a Putin tool or even a Putin ally. He’s a politician who knows on which side his bread is buttered.
Russia’s lawless invasion of Ukraine has put Orban in an uncomfortable position. His desire to place Hungary as an East-West bridge seems to be his goal. Hungary is an EU member as well as NATO. He maintains good relationships with Russia. He is open to the possibility of sanctions being imposed on Russia. Because Hungary relies on Russian gas, he is refusing to support sanctions against Russia. He provides humanitarian aid to Ukraine, and shelters around 140,000 Ukrainian refugees. He has supported Zelensky’s demand that Russia respects Ukraine’s territorial integrity. But he won’t ship arms to Ukraine. He will not allow weapons shipments to Ukraine through Hungary. This seems more a problem with appearances than anything. Still, Zelensky has accused Orban of standing in the way of European solidarity. Zelensky has the right idea. Zelensky is correct. But Orban, the prime minister in Hungary, is not Europe’s. Voters agreed that things should remain as they are.
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