Hungarian Conservative

The Hungarian National Assembly approved the ratification of Sweden’s accession to NATO on 26 February. It is now up to the President of the Republic to sign the agreement, which will officially grant Sweden full membership in the defence alliance.

In his regular Friday morning interview PM Orbán discussed, among other topics, the upcoming ratification of Sweden’s NATO accession, and the second anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The protracting NATO accession process of Sweden seems to be reaching its conclusion, following the announcement of support for ratification by Fidesz parliamentary group leader Máté Kocsis.

A bipartisan US Senate delegation visited Budapest over the weekend to exert pressure on the Hungarian parliament to advance the ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership. The senators also held consultations with opposition politicians and NGO representatives, and are planning to propose a resolution condemning Hungary.

All MPs for the ruling Fidesz-KDNP coalition, as well as some for the left-wing opposition, were absent from the extraordinary parliamentary session called for Monday, thus the vote on Sweden’s NATO membership did not meet the threshold to be legally binding. US Ambassador David Pressman was also present, but then left the House disappointed.

House Speaker László Kövér of Hungary has claimed that while the administration and President Novák support Sweden’s NATO bid, there is division between Fidesz MPs in parliament on the issue. Meanwhile, President Erdoğan of Turkey, the other holdout country, is also walking back on his commitment to the ratification.

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.