Hungary intends to approve Sweden’s accession to NATO, Brussels Signal reports.
Máté Kocsis, head of the Hungarian parliamentary group Fidesz, the ruling party of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, sent a letter to parliamentary speaker László Kövér on 20 February asking him to schedule a vote on the issue for 26 February, the first day of parliament’s spring session.
Kocsis said his party would support Sweden’s bid to join the transatlantic military alliance. Fidesz has an absolute majority in the Hungarian parliament. Fidesz parliamentary leader Máté Kocsis wrote on X:
The ruling party of Hungary, Fidesz, intends to approve the ratification of Sweden’s application to join NATO on February 26.
Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO after the outbreak of military conflict in Ukraine in February 2022.
Hungary has not supported Sweden for some time. Budapest has long disliked Sweden’s criticism of the rule of law in Hungary.
Turkey has also been reluctant, but late last month the Turkish parliament approved Sweden’s application to join NATO, securing a number of concessions, particularly on Kurdish paramilitaries.
The decision to admit countries to NATO is unanimous, so Hungary’s latest decision is crucial. Swedish Prime Minster Ulf Kristersson wrote on X:
Sweden will not negotiate with Hungary over its application to join NATO.
