The ratification of Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership is on the agenda of the Hungarian Parliament tomorrow.
Hungary has moved the matter forward time and time again since last fall, and it is still unclear when the Hungarian parliament will make a ratification decision.
Before the discussion of NATO membership in the parliament, Hungary announced that it would send delegations to Finland and Sweden to discuss issues affecting Hungary.
Foreign minister Péter Szijjártó said In an interview with Swedish television’s SVT (you will switch to another service)that the Swedish authorities have regularly spread false and fabricated news about Hungary in recent years.
– Members of the Hungarian Parliament have considered this an insult. To address these legitimate concerns, we have decided to send delegations to the Swedish and Finnish parliaments, Szijjárto told SVT.
It is not known with whom and what issues the delegation is negotiating with. On Tuesday afternoon, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had no information about when the Hungarian delegation would be coming to Finland.
The same unspecified accusations also apply to Finland. Researcher specializing in Hungary Heino Nyyssönen The University of Turku considers the announcement about sending delegations to be special.
– The question is mainly about intimidation. There is really nothing to discuss, and there have been no demands from Hungary. It will be interesting what will be discussed if the delegation comes to Finland, says Nyyssönen, a university teacher of political science and docent of political history.
“Tickling and revenge mentality”
The Hungarian administration has not given any official reason for its indignation.
Nyyssönen estimates that the accusations made by Szijjártó are related to the criticism of Hungary by Finland and Sweden in recent years. The countries have criticized the fact that the principles of the rule of law are no longer implemented in Hungary.
Criticism has been aimed at, among other things, rampant corruption, the weakening of the independence of the judiciary and the suppression of press freedom.
In Hungary, the criticism has been claimed to be false and some politicians have publicly asked why the countries that criticized Hungary now need the service.
– Hungary’s political rhetoric strongly includes being offended and demanding apologies. The views of many European countries on Hungary differ strongly from the way the ruling party Fidesz sees things.
– If you want to get hurt, then in the end, you don’t really need a reason for it.
Nyyssönen says that he would not be surprised if Hungary eventually did not send the promised delegation to Finland and Sweden. He states that Hungary’s communication regarding the ratification was very confused. Szijjártó’s recent comments are related to this.
– This is, at the very least, a little biting, if not even a revenge mentality. In Hungary, different messages are given all the time, a bit as if they wanted to keep Finland and Sweden in a loose log.
Ultimately, the timetable for ratification is up to the autocratic prime minister from Viktor Orbán. Orbán has stated in public that Hungary has nothing against ratification.
Unlike Turkey, Hungary has not made a distinction between Finland and Sweden.
It can also be about EU money
Nyyssönen says that Hungary’s procrastination may be due to frozen billions of EU subsidies. However, he does not consider this likely.
– The delegation can perhaps expect Finland to understand the slowness of the rule of law reforms or even suggest combining them together. However, Finland and Sweden have not been alone in this matter, so the connection to EU money is a bit far-fetched.
Nyyssönen estimates that the pressure from Orbán and Hungary to ratify Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership is already strong. He states that Hungary will ratify membership at some point anyway, probably well before the summer NATO summit.
– Hungary has tried to strike a balance between Russia, Turkey and the EU.
– If Hungary drags on for a very long time, Orbán’s last bit of credibility in the West will take a hit.
“The delegation could have a list of names with them”
Researcher Heino Nyyssönen himself received a shepherd’s letter from the Hungarian government almost two years ago. Hungary demanded an apology because Nyyssönen said the country was starting to look like a dictatorship. At that time, in the early stages of the corona pandemic, Orbán had received exceptional powers without a limit.
Nyyssönen considers it possible that the delegation would have a list of Finns who do not like Orbán’s administration.
– They may have a list of what politicians and scientists say, but this is just speculation. Hungarian embassies collect such lists in different countries.
Nyyssönen believes that his own name would be found on the list, if one were with the delegation.
– Hungary has been the spitting cup of liberal Europe for years. Of course, it has caused outrage. Now that there has been an opportunity to pay the pot in the pot, this is how it has been done.