Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban told parliament on Monday that ratifying Sweden’s NATO bid was not “urgent”, accusing the Nordic country of having challenged the country’s “democratic nature”.
Hungary has still not voted to approve the Nordic country’s entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, having aligned itself with Turkey which had long blocked Sweden’s membership before lifting its veto in July.
In the past, Orban has repeatedly stated that Hungary supports Sweden’s bid, stressing that it was merely a “technicality”.
“I wonder if there is something urgent that would force us to ratify Sweden’s NATO bid. I cannot see any such circumstance,” Orban told lawmakers.
Orban underpinned his remarks by saying that there was “no threat to Sweden’s security” and no military relationship with the Nordic country that could be jeopardized.
Budapest has often denounced what it called Stockholm’s “open hostile attitude”, accusing Swedish representatives of being “repeatedly keen to bash Hungary” on rule-of-law issues.
In recent weeks, criticism increased after a video from 2019 resurfaced that allegedly points to the democratic decline in Hungary.
“Serious accusations and fake informations are being spread to students in the schools of Sweden,” Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto wrote in a letter sent to his counterpart in mid-September.
The video about Hungary being shown in schools “elevates the problem… to the level of international policy, and we will not accept that,” Orban said on Monday.
Helsinki and Stockholm ended decades of military non-alignment and decided to join the alliance in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
In April, Finland became the 31st member of NATO.
