full screen Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán when the parliament was opened. Photo: Zoltan Mathe/AP/TT
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sees no rush to ratify Swedish membership in the NATO military alliance.
– I wonder if there is something urgent that forces us to ratify Sweden’s NATO application. I can’t see any such circumstances, Orbán told Hungarian parliamentarians when parliament opened on Monday.
Hungary and Turkey are the NATO countries that have not approved Swedish NATO membership. In the past, Prime Minister Orbán has said that a Hungarian approval is about a technicality through a ratification in the parliament.
But Monday’s tone was different. At the same time, Orbán accused Sweden and other Nordic countries of having challenged Hungary’s fundamental democratic values.