V. Orban: Hungary will buy 4 Gripen fighters from Sweden

This announcement is a very important step towards unblocking Budapest’s objections to Sweden’s bid to join the Alliance.

Budapest already has 14 Jas-39 Gripen fighter jets, which it operates under a lease signed in 2001 and subsequently extended twice.

“Today we reached an agreement to add four aircraft to the Gripen fleet of the Hungarian Defense Forces,” Orban said after talks with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson.

“On Monday, the Hungarian Parliament will meet and take the necessary decisions, so we have finished one stage and started a new one,” he added.

The two leaders met ahead of a key Hungarian parliamentary vote on Stockholm’s bid to join NATO.

After Turkey ratified Sweden’s application last month, Hungary remains the last country not to do so.

After Russia invaded Ukraine, in May 2022, Sweden together with neighboring Finland submitted an application to join NATO. In April 2023, Finland became the 31st member of NATO.

“The conversation was constructive and we agreed to move forward in the areas of common interests,” U. Kristersson said at the press conference after the talks with V. Orban.

“We don’t agree on everything, but we agree that we should work together more actively when we have common points of contact,” he added.

Earlier on Friday, V. Orban told public radio that “some are not resolved [dvišaliai] military and armaments issues” must be resolved before Hungary’s parliament “can put its final stamp” on ratifying the application on Monday.

“We are in favor of peace, and the Swedes are in favor of war in the Russia-Ukraine conflict,” V. Orban said, but added that these “clear differences in values” can be overcome.

Faced with mounting pressure from the United States and other EU member states to approve Sweden’s NATO bid, Orban announced last week that Budapest was ready to ratify it.

Budapest has often condemned what it calls Sweden’s “openly hostile attitude”, accusing Swedish representatives of criticizing Hungary on rule of law issues.