Members of the Hungarian parliament say that Sweden’s NATO membership will not be discussed during the summer. That would mean that Sweden will not have time to join NATO before the Vilnius Summit in July.
Leonard Wilhelmus,
–STT
Wednesday was a dark day for Sweden’s NATO membership.
First, a Koran was burned in Stockholm, which angered Turkey. Then members of the Hungarian parliament said the country would not discuss membership in next week’s sessions.
Next week, the Hungarian Parliament will have its last plenary sessions before the summer break. Sweden’s membership could therefore not be realized before autumn.
Opposition Member of Parliament Agnes Vadai tells about the stretching of the schedule in his Facebook post.
– Orbán does not want to vote on Sweden’s NATO membership next week either, Vadai writes.
At the same time, he barks at the Prime Minister of Hungary Viktor Orbán the president of Russia Vladimir Putin as a lackey.
Another Hungarian MP has also confirmed the postponement of Sweden’s membership to the news agency AP.
Hungary and Turkey are the only NATO countries that have not ratified Sweden’s NATO membership. Finland, the newest member of the alliance, was the last to confirm its membership.
Sweden has hoped that it would become a member before 11.-12. NATO Summit in Vilnius in July.
A setback for NATO
Secretary General of NATO Jens StoltenbergBritish Foreign Secretary James Cleverly and the President of France Emmanuel Macron have stressed in recent days that it is time to accept Sweden’s membership.
Sweden submitted its application at the same time as Finland last year. However, Turkey and Hungary have delayed the ratification of membership.
– The Hungarian parliament has not yet confirmed the matter, but if the information is true, it is a nightmarish message to the Swedish government, political commentator Mats Knutson evaluates the Swedish public radio SVT.
Knutson believes that Sweden’s chances of joining NATO in the summer are gone.
– This is also a setback for NATO, Knutson stated.
Hungarian decision-makers have assured several times that they support membership, and the country has not given a clear reason for postponing ratification. However, Hungary has expressed its dissatisfaction with the fact that Sweden has criticized its development of democracy and the rule of law.
Hungary has been expected to accept Sweden’s membership when Turkey turns to its position.
Stoltenberg said today that Turkey and Sweden will negotiate membership next Thursday at a high-level meeting in Brussels.
Corrected 28.6. at 21:40. Clarified that Hungary has not given a clear reason for postponing membership. However, it has taken an official position on the matter in contrast to what was previously mentioned.