There is no Hungarian-Turkish deal with regard to the ratification of Sweden’s bid for NATO membership, and it will be up to the Hungarian parliament to decide when to vote on it, Prime Minister Viktor Orban told a news briefing on Thursday, Reuters reported.
Orban said there was no great willingness among ruling party lawmakers in Budapest to approve Sweden’s bid. Sweden’s application has been held up by Turkey and Hungary’s refusal to support it.
Orban said in September that Hungary was in no rush to ratify Sweden’s NATO accession, flagging a further delay in a process that has been stranded in parliament since last year.
“There is no Hungarian-Turkish agreement” on Sweden’s NATO bid, he said, adding that approval “will be decided only by the Hungarian parliament … when lawmakers decide the time has come for it. They don’t have a great willingness to make this decision.”
Budapest has cited what it called undue allegations by Swedish politicians that it had eroded democratic rights as a reason for the delay in approving Sweden’s bid.
Hungary’s parliament, currently on winter break, will resume its work some time around mid-February.
