While the Hungarian Parliament met this Monday, February 5 in an extraordinary session at the request of opposition deputies to put Sweden’s membership in NATO on the agenda, the ruling Fidesz boycotted the session.
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After the green light in January from Turkey, Hungary is the only country not to have approved Sweden’s entry into NATO. Nationalist leader Viktor Orban, who stands out in the European Union by maintaining close ties with the Kremlin, has given his support in principle to the Swedish candidacy, but has been dragging his feet for months. “ The Prime Minister promised to act “at the first opportunity”. Monday’s session provides him with one “, the American embassy wrote in a press release on Friday.
A sign of the importance that Washington attaches to the issue, the United States Ambassador to Budapest, David Pressman, took his place on the balcony of Parliament, alongside 14 other representatives of NATO members, to attend the session extraordinary aimed at putting the Nordic country’s membership in the Atlantic Alliance on the agenda. Alas, the deputies of the Fidesz party, the ultra-majority in Parliament, did not make the trip, leaving only the 51 elected representatives of the opposition – out of 199 seats in total. Due to lack of quorum, the meeting was adjourned.
Dialogue of the deaf
Officially, the government is offended by Sweden’s criticism of the authoritarian drift in Hungary. Viktor Orban is first awaiting a visit from his Swedish counterpart whom he invited to Hungary to restore “ trust “. Ulf Kristersson accepted the invitation while rejecting the idea of ” negotiations ” And ” requirements » around the NATO candidacy. “ If this is an important issue for the Swedes, their Prime Minister will undoubtedly come to Budapest », Launched Fidesz in a statement sent to Agence France-Presse. The head of diplomacy Peter Szijjarto also estimated last week, in a video posted on just » that Ulf Kristersson visit Hungary before ratification, as he had visited Turkey.
Viktor Orban pushes back the deadline “ out of personal vanity », Points out for AFP MP Agnes Vadai, member of the Democratic Coalition, the largest opposition party. “ He wants to make headlines in the international press, while making a gesture to Russian President Vladimir Putin by weakening the unity of NATO and the EU “, at the risk of endangering ” national security of Hungary “, she believes.
Parliament meets again from February 26 and ratification could take place quickly once approved by the Prime Minister. According to some analysts, the Hungarian leader would seek to obtain from the Swedes a promise of abstention, in case the European Union once again wanted to sanction Hungary.
(With AFP)