Hungary can ratify Sweden’s NATO bid this spring, Orbán says

 

Hungary can ratify Sweden’s NATO bid this spring, Orbán says

 

Orbán and his Swedish counterpart have taken steps to “rebuild trust,” he said.

 

FEBRUARY 17, 2024 5:59 PM CET

BY ANTONIA ZIMMERMANN

https://www.politico.eu/article/hungary-viktor-orban-sweden-nato-bid-this-spring/

 

Hungary's parliament will be ready to ratify Sweden's NATO membership when it convenes for its spring session, which begins at the end of this month, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said Saturday.

 

"It's good news that our dispute with Sweden will soon be settled," Orbán said in his annual state of the nation speech. "We are going in the direction that at the start of parliament's spring session we can ratify Sweden's accession to NATO."

 

The ratification would come after a delay that has left Budapest as the final holdout to Sweden’s entry into the defense alliance. The Hungarian Parliament is expected to reconvene on February 26.

 

Orbán also said he and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson have taken steps to "rebuild trust" between the two countries, without specifying what those steps were.

 

In a historic shift in policy prompted by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Sweden applied to join NATO in May 2022. Hungary is the only NATO country that has not yet signed off on Sweden's bid, a process requiring the backing of all NATO members — something that has soured Hungary's relations with the United States and its allies.

 

Orbán officially backed Sweden’s candidacy in January, but it still needs to be validated by the Hungarian parliament. The parliamentary vote should be a formality, as Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party holds a comfortable majority.

 

But Fidesz leaders earlier this month demanded that Kristersson first visit Budapest before the parliamentary vote. Kristersson has ruled out further negotiations with Budapest on Sweden’s bid, but has said he would be open to meeting Orbán after Hungary’s parliament ratifies the application.

 

Budapest had earlier vowed not to be the last to sign off on the Sweden's membership bid, but that pledge fell by the wayside last month when Turkey gave the green light.

 

To explain the holdup, Fidesz has previously cited what it called unfounded Swedish allegations that the party has eroded democracy in Hungary.