Turkey, Hungary delay Sweden’s accession process – Budapest has been annoyed by Sweden’s criticism of the state of democracy in the country
“Relations between Hungary and Sweden should improve before the Nordic country’s request for NATO membership is approved,” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán said today from the Qatar Economic Forum, where he is.
Sweden and its neighbor Finland applied to join the military alliance last year, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
But Turkey and Hungary are delaying Sweden’s accession process, with Budapest citing its annoyance at Sweden’s criticism of the state of democracy in the country under Orban and the rule of law.
“The political relations between Hungary and Sweden are absolutely wrong. We don’t want to introduce conflicts into NATO,” Orbán said.
No date has yet been set for when the Hungarian parliament will vote on the Swedish membership request, which must be ratified by all 30 member countries of the alliance.
The NATO summit is scheduled for July.
Orban is visiting Qatar, with whom his government last year began talks on the LNG (liquefied natural gas) market.
“Negotiations are ongoing,” Orbán said today from the Qatar Forum, adding that there is interest from the Qatari side in the Budapest airport, which he “welcomes.”
Source :Skai
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