Hungary postpones vote on Sweden’s Nato accession bid ahead of summit
28 June 2023, 20:04
The move all but guarantees that the Nordic nation will not join the western military alliance before or during the Nato summit in July.
Hungary’s parliament has postponed ratifying Sweden’s Nato accession bid to its autumn legislative session.
The postponement on Wednesday, the latest in a succession of delays that have gone on for a year, all but guarantees that the Nordic nation will not join the western military alliance before or during the Nato summit in July.
In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Agnes Vadai, a legislator with Hungary’s opposition Democratic Coalition party, wrote that Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his governing Fidesz party would not schedule a vote on Sweden’s accession during its final spring session next week.
Another legislator from the Democratic Coalition confirmed the vote would be delayed.
Hungary remains the only Nato member country besides Turkey that has not yet approved Sweden’s bid to join the alliance.
The Nordic nation and neighbouring Finland dropped their longstanding military neutrality after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and quickly signalled their intention to join Nato.
High-ranking Hungarian officials say they support Sweden’s membership bid while also making vague demands from Stockholm as conditions for approval.
In March, Hungary sent a delegation to Sweden and Finland to resolve “political disputes” that had raised doubts among some Fidesz legislators about whether to support the Nato applications.
Mr Orban’s government has alleged that Swedish politicians have told “blatant lies” about the condition of Hungary’s democracy, which he said left some legislators unsure whether to support the accession bid
Fidesz earlier caused multiple delays in ratifying Finland’s Nato bid but swiftly passed the measure in March once Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan indicated that his government would move forward on the ratification.
The uncertainty over Sweden’s bid is amplified by Turkey’s objections amid accusations that Stockholm is too soft on groups that Ankara deems to be terror organisations.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan this month said Nato should not bet on his country approving Sweden’s application to join before the July 11-12 summit in Lithuania because the Nordic nation has not fully addressed his security concerns.
The Kurdistan Workers’ Party, or PKK, has waged a 38-year insurgency against Turkey that has left tens of thousands dead. It is designated a terrorist organisation by the US and the EU. Sweden has a Kurdish diaspora of around 100,000 people.
Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday that he would call an urgent meeting in coming days to try to overcome Turkish objections to Sweden joining the military organisation — a last-ditch effort to have the Nordic country standing alongside the allies at the Vilnius summit next month.
