NATO allies pile pressure on Hungary to ratify Sweden’s accession

Europe, News February 6, 2024 , by IRIA No Comments

A group of ambassadors from NATO member countries arrived at the parliament building in Budapest on February 5, 2023, to urge Hungarian lawmakers to vote in favor of Sweden’s bid to join NATO. Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party, however, chose to boycott the session, hurdling Sweden’s NATO membership.

An extraordinary meeting of parliament was called by the opposition to vote on ratification on Monday, but lawmakers from the ruling Fidesz party boycotted the session resulting in a lack of quorum and delaying the ratification.

After the Turkish parliament approved Sweden’s NATO membership application, Hungary is the only NATO member state furthest away from ratifying Sweden’s accession into the alliance.

For months, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, known for his amicable relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, assured his NATO counterparts that Hungary would not delay in approving Sweden’s membership.

Orban pledged to uphold his commitment several times in recent months. However, parliamentarians from his party, Fidesz, are demanding that Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson should visit Budapest before they ratify the bid.

“If this is an important issue for the Swedes, then obviously the Swedish prime minister will come to Budapest,” a Fidesz spokesperson told media.

Mate Kocsis, who leads the Fidesz parliamentary group, said that Sweden’s NATO accession ratification could happen at the beginning of the regular parliamentary session, currently scheduled for late February, “contingent on a meeting between the Hungarian and Swedish prime ministers in Budapest.”

Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orbán during the parliamentary session — *^{Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán during the parliamentary session. (Image Credit: Koszticsák Szilárd/via VilagGazdasag)}*

Earlier last week, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said that it would be “fair” if Kristersson visited Budapest before the ratification, just as the Swedish leader had also gone to Turkey before the Turkish ratification.

In response to these demands, Swedish Prime Minister Kristersson said it would only be “natural” for him to visit the Hungarian capital following a parliamentary confirmation from Hungary since there was no need to negotiate bilaterally.

In a symbolic move, a group of 16 diplomats from NATO member states, including the U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman, arrived at the Hungarian parliament on February 5, 2024, to urge Hungarian lawmakers to ratify Sweden’s NATO application.

“The Prime Minister pledged to convene parliament, to urge parliament to act at its earliest opportunity, today was an opportunity to do that,” Pressman said after the parliamentary session was called off due to the boycott by the ruling party. “We look forward to watching this closely, and to Hungary acting expeditiously.”

Turkiye NATO Sweden leaders — *^{Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (R) shakes hands with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (C) and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson (L). (Image Credit: Duvarenglish/via Twitter)}*

In a breakthrough last month, the Turkish parliament ratified Sweden’s NATO membership bid to join NATO, leaving Hungary the only NATO member state for ratification. In return for its ratification, Turkey got the green light for its highly anticipated $23 billion F-16 fighter jet sales from the U.S.