A bipartisan delegation of US senators made an official visit to Hungary’s capital on Sunday and called on the government to immediately approve Sweden’s request to join NATO, but no one from the government staff responded to their call for a meeting.

Hungary is the only aof the 31 existing NATO members which has not ratified Sweden’s candidacy. The Hungarian government is under increasing pressure to go ahead with approval after it has already been delayed for more than 18 months, as admitting a new country to the military alliance requires unanimous approval.

Senators visiting the country announced they would submit a joint resolution to Congress condemning the democratic backsliding in Hungary and urging Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s government to lift its block on Sweden’s transatlantic integration.

“By joining, Hungary and your prime minister will be doing a great service to freedom-loving nations around the world,” Senator Thom Tillis, R-North Carolina, said during a press conference at the US Embassy in Budapest. .

The resolution, according to the Associated Press, was authored by Tillis and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, D-New Hampshire. Joining them in the delegation to Budapest was Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Connecticut.

Earlier this month, U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, D-Maryland and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, questioned imposing sanctions on Hungary for its behavior and called Orbán “the least credible member of NATO.”

But on Sunday, Shaheen said it was “disappointing” that no member of the Hungarian government had accepted invitations to meet the delegation.

The senators’ resolution criticizes Orban’s increasingly warm relations with Russia and China and notes that while Hungary has opened its doors to Ukrainian refugees fleeing Moscow’s invasion, it has “resisted and reduced its sanctions European Union in relation to the Russian Federation”.

Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s foreign minister, said on Friday that he welcomed the senators’ visit but that “it is not worth them trying to put pressure on us because we are a sovereign country”.

“We’re glad they come here because they can see for themselves that everything they read about Hungary in the liberal American media is a blatant lie,” Szijjártó said.