The speaker of the Hungarian parliament, Thursday (25/1) said there was no urgency to approve Sweden's bid to become a member of NATO after Turkey's ratification made Budapest the only country to postpone the long process of accepting membership.
Turkey's general assembly, where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling alliance holds a majority, voted 287-55 to approve a request Sweden first submitted in 2022 to improve its security, in response to Russia's full-blown invasion of Ukraine.
Sweden's acceptance as a member requires formal approval from 31 member states including Hungary. But approval by Türkiye is widely seen as the biggest hurdle to overcome.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has friendly relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin despite Moscow's war in Ukraine, said Wednesday he would urge legislators to approve Sweden's membership bid as soon as possible.
The Hungarian Parliament is not in session currently. The opposition Socialist Party this week said it would call for an extraordinary session to approve Sweden's bid to become a member of NATO, which has been stalled in Hungary's parliament since mid-2022 despite Orban's repeated promises to support it.
“I have no doubt that one of the opposition parties, which has consistently opposed Hungary's interests, will ask for an extraordinary session, but this will most likely fail,” Laszlo Kover, a founding member of Fidesz, Orban's ruling party, told news site index. hoo.
“I don't feel any particular urgency,” he continued. “Moreover, I feel there is no extraordinary situation.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg urged Orban on Wednesday (24/1) to ratify Sweden's bid to become a member of NATO.
Despite Orban's huge influence within Fidesz, government ministers have repeatedly blamed the delay on complaints about Sweden's membership bid among legislators from the ruling party that Orban has barely rebutted. (uh/ab)