As is usual in the EU, Viktor Orban is trying to play his cards in NATO to obtain concessions in exchange for his approval Sweden's entry into NATO. After Turkey's parliament gave the Swedish candidacy the green light, the populist leader knows he has an ace up his sleeve to keep the pressure on Stockholm, one of the biggest critics of Hungary's authoritarian drift. It is no coincidence that it is once again in agreement with its EU partners to provide military aid to Ukraine worth 50 billion euros.
Before the Turkish “yes”, Orban sent a letter to his Swedish counterpart on Tuesday morning. Ulf Kristerssonand invited him to travel to Budapest to discuss joining NATO. “Today I sent a letter of invitation to Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson to visit Hungary to negotiate Sweden’s accession to NATO,” the Magyar prime minister wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Hungary had already tried in vain to invite Swedish representatives to Budapest.
“I invite you to come to Hungary as soon as you have the opportunity to exchange views in all areas, including our complex bilateral relations and our future security and defense cooperation as allies and partners,” Orban said in his letter to Kristersson.
At the same time, the opposition Hungarian Social Democratic Party called an immediate extraordinary parliamentary session to vote on Sweden's accession to NATO, according to Hungarian news site 24. However, Orban's Fidesz party will have the final say, as it has an absolute majority in the chamber.
“If Orban doesn’t want to, there will be no additional session,” the MP told TT Newswire. Agnes Vadai the opposition Democratic Coalition Party. “But of course my party supports (the extraordinary session).”
An additional session would have to be approved by Parliament's preparatory committee if the opposition does not have enough seats to win a vote. Fidesz has the majority to decide the legislative agenda.
The opposition has been calling for a vote on Sweden's NATO membership for more than a year while Parliament was in session, but without Fidesz's support the vote cannot pass.
“It's a dark game that of course only benefits Putin. I think it is a disgrace for Hungary and the Hungarian people. That’s why we took the initiative and held an extraordinary session in Parliament,” he said. Bertalan TothGroup leader of the Social Democratic Party (MSZP).
According to the vice president of MSZP, Tamas HarangozoThe administration of Sweden's NATO membership application was “a meaningless farce”. “has brought shame on the Hungarian people.”
“By lying about the date of approval and the reasons for the delay, they failed to achieve results. It is time for Orban to put an end to this stupid, harmful and unnecessary farce,” he said in statements to Swedish public television SVT.
Hungary is the only NATO member that has not yet approved Sweden's application to join. Orban had previously said that Hungary would not be the last country to approve Sweden's request, without providing details on when the country plans to do so.
Last week, the Hungarian government signaled that approval could be delayed. A source close to the prime minister told Reuters that Sweden “does not appear to prioritize NATO membership”and added that the country had not done enough to build confidence in its suitability for membership.
From Stockholm, the Foreign Minister, Tobias BillstromHe did not want to answer whether the prime minister will travel to Hungary to meet with Orban or whether he will do so during the extraordinary European Council that will take place in Brussels on February 1, precisely because of the Hungarian veto on the military aid package for Ukraine.
The head of Swedish diplomacy, who met with his Hungarian counterpart in Brussels last Monday, Peter Szijjartocalled on Hungary to ratify Sweden's accession to the Atlantic Alliance.
“Among other things, we raised the issue of ratification. I have received renewed assurances that they want to continue with this and that the government fully supports Sweden's accession to NATO,” said Billström. “Of course we hope that Hungary will ratify it as quickly as possible,” he emphasized.
In any case, the Swedish foreign minister assured that he did not see that “no reason” to negotiate with Hungary “at this point” about Stockholm’s NATO candidacy. “We have received the letter from Prime Minister Orbán’s office and we will analyze it in detail and come back with a response,” he added.