Hungary’s Orbán Pledges Sweden’s NATO Membership

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán pledged Wednesday that he will urge the Hungarian parliament to approve Sweden’s membership of the NATO military alliance, a day after Turkish legislators made a similar move.

His comments came as diplomats said Hungary’s allies were “exasperated” by the country’s foot-dragging at a time when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine raises security concerns in Sweden and other Nordic and Baltic states.

All NATO member states have to approve Sweden’s entry, and Hungary is the last alliance state having to vote for the Nordic nation’s bid.

Sweden applied to join NATO in May 2022, but its accession was delayed as Turkey and Hungary strung out the ratification process.

Turkey complained about Sweden protecting critics of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who they view as “terrorists,” while Hungary was angry about Sweden expressing concerns about the rule-of-law situation.

Yet, as pressure mounted, Orbán said he spoke with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on the phone. “I reaffirmed that the Hungarian government supports the NATO membership of Sweden,” he stated.

‘GOOD CALL’

“I also stressed that we will continue to urge the Hungarian national assembly to vote in favor of Sweden’s accession and conclude the ratification at the first possible opportunity,” Orbán added, without offering a concrete timeline.

He also invited his Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson, to visit Hungary to discuss Sweden’s NATO bid.

Stoltenberg said he had a “good call with Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.”

He added on social media network X, formerly known as Twitter: “I welcome the clear support of the prime minister and his government for Sweden’s NATO membership. l look forward to the ratification as soon as parliament reconvenes.”

Hungarian legislators are still in recess but could potentially vote on the issue in February. The NATO friction comes at a time of growing frustration in Western capitals over Hungary’s blocking of long-term EU assistance for Ukraine valued at 50 billion euros ($54.5 billion).

Orbán says he does not want the amount to include billions frozen in aid to Hungary amid EU concerns about the rule-of-law situation in the country, including corruption.

VISITING BRIDGE

On Wednesday, the U.S. ambassador in Hungary, David Pressman, visited the eastern village of Nyírmártofalva, which became a symbol of the country’s perceived waste of EU money.

Pressman published footage of his visit to what some view as “the bridge to nowhere,” an infamous canopy walkway with no canopy around it. “Quite a view from Hungary’s EU-funded forest canopy walkway” project in Nyírmártonfalva,” the ambassador wrote on X.

An entire forest near Nyírmártonfalva, a village of 2,000 people 30 kilometers (about 19 miles) outside the city of Debrecen, was cut to the ground to build the canopy walkway using 60 million forints (168 thousand dollars) in EU funding, investigations showed.

Millions more were spent on other projects that raised eyebrows in Brussels, and billions in tenders were often allocated to business associates with close ties to Orbán and his party, according to Western diplomats.

Orbán says he is not dealing with the businesses but has noticed that the mentioned “successful” Hungarians pay a lot of taxes in Hungary.

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