Home SECURITY & DEFENCE Fidesz: Hungary’s ruling party snubs parliament over Sweden’s NATO bid

Fidesz: Hungary’s ruling party snubs parliament over Sweden’s NATO bid

"The least reliable member of NATO" - US Senator Ben Cardin, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

by EUToday Correspondents
Fidesz

In a notable display of dissent, lawmakers from Hungary’s ruling party, Fidesz, opted out of an emergency parliamentary session where a crucial vote on Sweden’s NATO accession was slated to occur.

The session, convened on Monday and backed by six opposition parties, failed to materialise as Fidesz representatives abstained, effectively stalling the voting process within the National Assembly.

Among NATO’s member states, Hungary stands alone in withholding approval for Sweden’s bid to join the military alliance.

This move follows Turkey’s parliamentary endorsement of Sweden’s accession in January, leaving Hungary as the sole holdout among the 31 member nations.

Sweden’s pivot toward NATO comes in the wake of Russia’s bold incursion into Ukraine in 2022, a move that shattered longstanding geopolitical norms and prompted Sweden to seek NATO membership after decades of military non-alignment.

Despite expressing nominal support for Sweden’s NATO aspirations, Hungary, maintaining close ties with Russia, has been slow to act on the matter.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban assured NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg of his party’s intention to ratify the bid promptly, yet meaningful progress has been lacking.

The latest parliamentary snub drew attention from various NATO member countries’ ambassadors, including US Ambassador David Pressman, who underscored the significance of Sweden’s NATO integration for collective security.

Pressman reiterated the US’s eagerness for Hungary to act swiftly, echoing previous commitments made by Prime Minister Orban.

Critics within Hungary’s political landscape have accused Orban of stalling the vote for personal gain, characterising his actions as a bid for attention on the international stage while potentially cozying up to Russian President Vladimir Putin, thus undermining NATO and EU unity.

US Senator Ben Cardin, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, hinted at the prospect of imposing sanctions on Hungary for its obstructionist stance, branding Orban as “the least reliable member of NATO.”

Hungarian officials, meanwhile, have indicated that Fidesz lawmakers won’t greenlight a vote until Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson accepts an invitation to visit Budapest for negotiations.

Kristersson, however, has asserted his willingness to engage but has conditioned his visit on Hungary’s prior approval of Sweden’s NATO membership.

Fidesz, in a statement, suggested that ratification could occur during a regular session of parliament but emphasized the importance of Kristersson’s visit to Budapest as a precondition for advancing the matter.

Hungary’s National Assembly is set to reconvene on February 26th, with ratification poised to proceed swiftly pending Orban’s endorsement.

Main image: By Elekes Andor – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=43752035

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Read also: Just how cosy is the relationship between Victor Orbán and Vladimir Putin?

“As the Prime Minister of Hungary, Orbán has navigated a delicate balancing act between maintaining his relationship with EU whist cultivating a bilateral strategic partnership with Russia under Putin’s leadership.”

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