Hungary supports Sweden’s membership in NATO but Swedish politicians must stop spreading “lies” about Hungary and the rule of law, the head of Hungary’s parliamentary delegation said on Tuesday.
Hungary and Turkey are the only two NATO countries that have yet to ratify the membership bids of Sweden and Finland.
NATO offer
Budapest is expected to vote on the two countries joining the alliance “in the coming weeks”, Hungarian parliament deputy speaker Csaba Hende told reporters in Stockholm.
“We started the debate last week and usually if everything goes well, within a few weeks the debate is over”, said Hende, who is a member of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party.
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Hungary’s repeated delays in ratification have raised concerns in Sweden and Finland, whose bids have been held back by Turkey.
According to the Hungarian parliament’s website, the vote was originally scheduled to take place between March 6 and 9, but has now been postponed until March 20 at the earliest.
Hende and other Hungarian MPs on Tuesday met with the speaker of the Swedish parliament for a “courtesy visit”.
“It is warm, friendly, hopeful, and brings with it the hope of a new beginning”, said Hende.
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“We made it clear that the Hungarian government, the Hungarian president, and the majority of MPs unanimously support NATO member Sweden”, he said.
But he noted that it is “necessary” to improve bilateral relations between Stockholm and Budapest.
Sweden is worried
Sweden should also show Hungary “more respect”, he said, accusing Sweden of spreading “lies”.
“It would be good if in the future, Swedish politicians, members of the government, MPs and MEPs will avoid portraying Hungary in a false light by eluding the existence of the rule of law that is based on clearly untrue facts”, he said.
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Sweden is worried that Hungary could use the NATO offer as leverage in a war with the European Union.
In December, Brussels froze billions of euros in funds pending anti-corruption reforms expected from Budapest.
The Hungarian government has also, unlike the rest of Europe, taken an ambiguous course on the war in Ukraine and has refused to criticize Russian President Vladimir Putin by name.