Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s ruling party will support the ratification of Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership, the party’s parliamentary group, which controls more than two-thirds of the seats in the House, announced on Wednesday.

Hungary is the only member of NATO together with Turkey which have not yet ratified the membership of the two countries.

Hungary’s parliament began debating Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership today, but the outcome of the vote now looks uncertain due to ruling party concerns.

According to the parliament’s website, the decision on the ratification that was originally scheduled between March 6 and 9 was set for March 20 at the earliest. Until then, a delegation of MPs is expected in the northern countries.

To “eliminate their concerns,” Foreign Minister Peter Szijardo said earlier this week at the end of a meeting with Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström.

Although Viktor Orbán continues to state officially that he is in favor of an enlargement of the North Atlantic Alliance, “MPs are not too excited”, according to the nationalist prime minister.

With its ally, the Christian Democratic KDNP, his party, Fidesz, has a two-thirds majority in parliament and doubts began to emerge last week.

Some are concerned that “there will be a direct border between Russia and Finland of more than 1,000 km,” a fact that carries a risk of escalation, Orban explained on Friday during a radio interview.

Others denounce the repeated criticisms, “blatant lies” spread by the Swedes and Finns about the state of democracy in Hungary.

The opposition accuses the government of using the holding of this internal Fidesz debate as a tactic to delay ratification, as Orbán wants to maintain relations with Moscow despite the war.

“This is a very shallow excuse. Usually, you ask for Orbán’s permission to ask a question” in parliament, MP Anies Vandai quipped to ruling party MPs.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden submitted a request to join NATO in May 2022.

The two countries have decided to turn the page on their policy of military neutrality in place since the 1990s, inherited after decades of forced or chosen neutrality.