Hungary May Ratify Sweden’s NATO Bid in Autumn, Lawmaker Says

Veronika Gulyas and Zoltan Simon
·1 min read
6

(Bloomberg) -- Hungary may ratify Sweden’s NATO membership bid in the autumn, a ruling Fidesz party lawmaker said, which would clear one of the last bottlenecks remaining for the Nordic nation to become a full-fledged member of the alliance.

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An extraordinary parliament session won’t be needed to approve the decision, Zsolt Nemeth, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of parliament, told Inforadio in an interview. Instead it’s expected to be discussed when parliament reconvenes for its regular autumn session in mid-September.

Hungary and Turkey have been the last holdouts against Sweden joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, a bid triggered, along with Finland’s, by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.

Nemeth said there was no urgency for Hungary to call an extraordinary session of parliament for earlier approval as Turkey would only discuss the ratification process when its national assembly reconvenes Oct. 1.

Turkey appeared to drop its opposition to Sweden’s application at the NATO summit in Vilnius this week after a more than a year of insisting that Stockholm further crack down on Kurdish activists living in the Nordic country that Ankara labels terrorists.

Read more: Sweden Gets Boost as NATO Breakthrough Eases Long-Running Gloom

Prime Minister Viktor Orban had said from the outset that Hungary would approve Sweden’s bid once Turkey agrees, which Nemeth said was part of a “complicated diplomacy play.” Orban also said Hungary won’t be the last one to approve the accession bid.

“The Turkish-Swedish debate created political opportunities for Hungary,” Nemeth said, with Hungary having closely cooperating with Turkey throughout the talks.

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