(Budapest) Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said Monday that there was “no urgency” to ratify Sweden’s membership in NATO, first demanding “respect” from the Nordic country.
“I wonder if there is something urgent that would force us to ratify Sweden’s candidacy. I do not see such circumstances,” the nationalist leader declared in Parliament, opening the autumn session.
“Sweden’s security is not threatened. In no way,” he insisted.
Hungary, the only one with Turkey not to have yet ratified, has given its support in principle but has been dragging its feet for months.
Budapest calls on Stockholm to stop its policy of “denigration” and its regular remarks on the Orban executive’s breaches of the rule of law.
Criticism has increased in recent weeks as a video from 2019 resurfaced: broadcast in Swedish schools, it allegedly points to “the democratic decline” observed in Hungary.
“Serious accusations and false information are being disseminated to students,” protested Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto in a letter sent to his counterpart in mid-September.
“This elevates the problem to the level of states, of international politics, and we will not accept that,” Viktor Orban said on Monday.
Hungary has the right to “first demand respect from Sweden” before “preparing to make a positive decision” regarding its NATO membership, he added.
The Prime Minister also assured that he was not bound by the rental and maintenance contract for the Swedish Gripen combat aircraft flown by the Hungarian forces. “We have nothing to fear from our military relationship with Sweden […]we have at least ten other offers on the table,” he said.
On Turkey’s side, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan finally agreed to lift his veto in July while emphasizing that his country’s ratification would not take place before October after the end of the parliamentary recess.
Sweden announced in May 2022, in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, its candidacy for NATO, at the same time as Finland, which became in April 31e member of the Atlantic Alliance.