Hungarian Conservative

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has confirmed in several forums and personally to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that Hungary supports Sweden’s NATO accession. At the same time, the Hungarian ruling party also made it clear that the Swedish ratification of NATO may take place early in the regular parliamentary session, but this would first require a meeting between the two prime ministers in Budapest.

‘We are nobody’s orderly,’ Hungarian House Speaker László Kövér stated in an interview with Index, addressing the question of the Hungarian ratification of Sweden’s NATO accession.

The Turkish parliament approved Sweden’s application for NATO membership on Tuesday, leaving only the Hungarian ratification to stand in the way of the Nordic country’s full membership.

Németh stated that the question of Swedish accession is currently before the Hungarian parliament for a final vote, and he believes that the Turkish parliament will follow suit in the coming months, aligning with the Hungarian position.

Erdoğan spoke about the issue of Sweden’s NATO membership during a press conference held at Istanbul’s Ataturk Airport before travelling to the alliance’s summit in Vilnius, Lithuania. He stated that Turkey would approve Sweden’s NATO membership if the European Union resumes accession negotiations with his country.

In a Facebook post on Friday afternoon, Fidesz’s parliamentary group leader Máté Kocsis said his party is backing Finland’s accession and that the vote in parliament to ratify it would be held on 27 March.

Gergely Gulyás stated that the government believes that it is necessary to prepare for a protracted war and that economic difficulties persist due to the sanctions. He added that Hungary’s position is clear: Hungary condemns Russian aggression and provides humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.

Péter Szijjártó, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, has recently held talks with his Swedish counterpart, Tobias Billström, in Stockholm.

The remarks of a senior Turkish official on 14 January imply that it is unlikely Sweden and Finland would be able to join NATO before June.