Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that he will push his country's legislators to vote for Sweden's admittance into the NATO military alliance following widespread international scrutiny.
However, Orban's intervention, which came after he faced mounting pressure over being the last holdout on the matter, offered no timeline for a vote. He also repeated a longstanding assertion that a final decision is not for him to make, despite him practically having control over Hungary's Parliament.
On the other hand, an opposition legislator questioned why they were "messing with the Swedes?" Tamas Harangozo asked that question nearly a year ago when Orban's party abruptly dropped plans to vote on Sweden's NATO membership.
That particular question took on urgent relevance this week after Turkey's Parliament decided to vote to accept Sweden's NATO application. The development left Hungary as the last remaining hurdle that impedes efforts to bolster Europe's security in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
The Hungarian prime minister had often said that he wanted Sweden to join NATO but argued that his legislators were "not enthusiastic" about the idea. He blamed his country's repeated delays in accepting Sweden's application on lawmakers' right to make their own decisions, as per the New York Times.
Despite Orban's pledge on Wednesday to work on accepting Sweden's NATO application, it remains unclear whether it would mean that Parliament would quickly vote on the matter. Budapest's tough stance on Sweden's NATO bid echoes a position it took last month during a gathering of European leaders in Brussels.
The meeting was meant to discuss Ukraine and the situation in the region amid its war with Russia. At the time, Orban stood alone to torpedo an aid package for Ukraine that was worth $52 billion.
Now, leaders plan to take another run at convincing the Hungarian prime minister to fall into line when they reconvene on Feb. 1. Hungarian officials have long insisted that they would not block Sweden from joining NATO but have offered contradictory reasons for the delay of a vote.
Long-Delayed Vote
Some of these reasons include senior politicians from the ruling Fidesz party arguing that it is due to Swedish criticism of the state of Hungarian democracy. The European country has not formally put forward any substantive objections at NATO for Sweden's membership according to The Guardian.
This comes as Hungary is an outlier in the Western defensive alliance as it remains an active NATO member. Senior Hungarian officials continue to routinely meet their Russian counterparts and are often publicly critical of Western policies targeting Moscow.
The situation also comes after Turkey has finally approved Sweden's accession to NATO as the country's MPs have ratified Stockholm's bid to join the military alliance. The long-delayed vote represents a major step forward on the Nordic nation's path to becoming a full-fledged member.
Sweden initially applied to join NATO in 2022 alongside Finland following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. However, Turkey blocked both bids and cited Stockholm's support to Kurdish separatists as the reason for the development, said BBC.
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