Having just overcome the Türkiye’s blackmail Recep Tayyip ErdoğanSweden is now facing Hungarian Viktor Orban’s maneuvers to delay its entry into NATO, which has already been ratified by all of the organization’s member states except Hungary.
The leader of the Fidesz faction, Orban’s party, announced this Monday that Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson must first visit Budapest before the Hungarian Parliament can approve Sweden’s application to join the NATO alliance.
Fidesz MPs and their KDNP allies yesterday boycotted an extraordinary session of parliament to debate Sweden’s candidacy for the Atlantic Alliance, called at the request of the opposition for one o’clock in the afternoon.
“We are of the opinion that the ratification of the Swedish application to NATO can take place immediately after the start of the regular parliamentary session. However, this requires a meeting between the two prime ministers in Budapest,” he wrote Mate Kocsis, Chairman of the Fidesz group. on Facebook shortly before the meeting. “If it is important for the Swedes to unite, then they must come here, just as they came to Turkey.”
Following Turkey’s ratification in January, Budapest remains the latest country to resist ratifying the Nordic country’s attempt to join the military alliance.
Hungary has maintained close ties with the Kremlin ever since Invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, And although he has stated that he supports the Swedish candidacy in principle, he has been delaying it for months.
Orbán was delaying the vote because of his “personal vanity,” he told AFP Agnes Vadai, from the largest opposition party. Orbán wanted to “appear in the headlines of the international press and at the same time make a gesture to the Russian president.” Wladimir Putin by undermining the unity of NATO and the EU,” he said.
The United States has increased pressure on Hungary to ratify Stockholm’s candidacy. On Friday, the US Embassy publicly reminded Orbán that he had promised to act “at the first opportunity” and “Monday’s session provides him with one,” it said in a statement.
The co-chairs of the US Senate NATO Observer Group warned against this “Both time and patience are running out.”
The Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, Senator Ben Cardin, accused the Hungarian populist leader of disloyalty. “Allies support each other. The allies keep their word. Prime Minister Orbán should be aware of this and act accordingly,” Cardin wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Orbán invited his Swedish counterpart to Hungary and pointed out the need “Build strong mutual trust” through “more intensive political dialogue”. The Swedish prime minister accepted the invitation but rejected the idea of ”negotiations” and “demands” regarding the country’s attempt to join NATO.
After the two met in Brussels on Thursday during the extraordinary European Council aimed at convincing Orban to lift his veto on the 50 billion euro financial aid package for Ukraine, Kristersson explained that this conversation, among other things, laid the foundation for future talks have placed things, commercial interests and the Yes, 39 Gripen that both countries have and how they should behave in NATO. “It is natural that we meet when we are already partners. If we are partners, we have much more to discuss,” said the Swedish Prime Minister.
Parliament is due to reconvene on February 26 and ratification could happen quickly once Orban receives approval.
Last month, Turkey’s parliament ratified Sweden’s membership in NATO after more than a year of delays that frustrated Western efforts to show resolve in Russia’s war against Ukraine. Applications for NATO membership require unanimous ratification by all 31 members of the Atlantic Alliance.