Hungary Votes For Finland’s NATO Membership, But Sweden Not Welcome
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Hungary was due to vote for Finland to join the NATO military alliance on Monday, but government supporters declined to accept Sweden’s membership.
Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s ruling Fidesz party “supports Finland’s NATO accession,” said government spokesman Zoltán Kovacs.
“The parliamentary vote will take place on March 27,” he added on social media.
However, Fidesz parliamentary group leader Máté Kocsis said his party’s legislators would “decide on the case of Sweden later.”
A Hungarian parliamentary delegation that visited Stockholm and Helsinki last week said Swedish politicians need to stop spreading “lies” about Hungary’s perceived lack of democratic credentials and the rule of law issues.
Hungary’s government, one of Russia’s most vocal supporters, has been at loggerheads with the European Union Brussels over billions of euros in frozen EU funds earmarked for Hungary.
Brussels insists that Budapest should first introduce anti-corruption reforms and provide rule-of-law guarantees before the money can be released.
HUNGARY FOLLOWING TURKEY
Turkey and Hungary are the only NATO members still to ratify Sweden and Finland’s bids, which must be accepted by all 30 existing members of the military organization.
Hungary follows the example of Turkey by announcing that it would only accept Finland’s bid.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently said he would only accept Finland’s NATO membership.
Erdoğan stressed he was still not ready to move forward on Sweden, whom he accused of “not honoring” the terms of a separate deal they reached in June 2022 to allow NATO expansion.
Turkey sought the extradition of dozens of Kurdish and other suspects it accuses of ties to outlawed militants and a failed 2016 coup attempt.
Erdoğan claims Sweden protects “terrorists,” but rights activists say they include political opponents of the Turkish leader.
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