Hungary to buy 4 Gripen fighters from Sweden before NATO vote

"Hungary will purchase four Swedish-made Gripen fighter jets from Sweden, expanding its existing fleet of 14 aircraft".
This was stated by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
The announcement was a crucial step in unblocking Sweden's bid to join the alliance after opposition from Orban's nationalist government, which has accused Swedish officials of being hostile to him on rule of law issues, AFP reported.
Budapest has a fleet of 14 Jas-39 Gripen fighter jets, which it operates under a lease signed in 2001 that has since been extended twice.
"Today we reached an agreement to add four aircraft to the Gripen fleet of the Hungarian Defense Forces," Orbán said after talks with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.
"On February 26, the Hungarian parliament will meet and take the necessary decisions, and with that we have closed one stage and opened a new one," he added.
Kristersson arrived in the Hungarian capital just three days before the vote in the Hungarian parliament on the Nordic country's bid for NATO membership.
Hungary remains the last obstacle to Stockholm's NATO membership following Turkey's ratification last month.
Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Sweden, along with neighboring Finland, applied to join NATO in May 2022.
"The conversation was constructive and we agreed to move forward in areas of common interest," Kristersson told a news conference after talks with Orbán.
"We don't agree on everything, but we agree that we should work more actively together when we have common positions," he added.
Orbán earlier told state radio that "some outstanding bilateral military and weapons issues" must be resolved before the Hungarian parliament "can put the final seal" on the ratification.
"We are for peace and the Swedes are for war in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict," Orban said, but added that "clear differences in values" could be overcome.
Facing mounting pressure from the United States and other EU member states to give the green light to Sweden's bid for NATO membership, Orbán announced last week that Budapest was "on track" to ratify it.
His nationalist Fidesz party, whose ruling coalition with the Christian Democratic Party KDNP has a majority in parliament, has indicated it will support the Swedish bid.
All opposition parties, with the exception of the far-right "Our Motherland" movement, support ratification.
Although Hungary has repeatedly said it supports Stockholm in principle, it has prolonged the process by asking Sweden to stop "vilifying" the Orbán government.
She often condemned what she called Sweden's "openly hostile attitude", accusing Swedish representatives of "wanting to beat Hungary" on issues related to the rule of law.
In January, Orbán invited the Swedish prime minister to Hungary, citing the need to "build strong mutual trust" through "more intense political dialogue".
Finland became the 31st member of NATO in April 2023 /BGNES