Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has pledged to expedite his long-delayed ratification of Sweden's Nato accession on January 24 after a telephone conversation with Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
Stoltenberg tweeted shortly after his talks with Orban: "Good call with PM Viktor Orban of Hungary. I welcome the clear support of the prime minister and his government for Sweden's Nato membership. I look forward to the ratification as soon as parliament reconvenes."
Orban on social media platform X promised to urge the parliament to vote on it as soon as possible. He did not specify when a vote could take place. Parliament is in recess and the spring session is set to commence on February 26. It remains unclear whether this could be done earlier.
Opposition parties have urged the government to call an extraordinary session. The Socialist party had done that in October, but the request, which had support from other opposition parties, was rejected by a parliamentary committee.
A parliamentary committee approved ratification of Sweden’s membership, but it has never been put on the agenda for a plenary vote. The Fidesz government has put forward a range of excuses for the delay, ranging from parliament being busy, Sweden's criticism of Orban's hollowing out of Hungarian democracy, and wishing to wait until Turkey's preconditions were settled. It has insisted that parliament has an independent voice on this, when on other issues the legislature is more of a rubber stamp of the Orban regime's wishes.
The Turkish parliament on Tuesday ratified Sweden's membership to the military alliance and Hungary now remains the sole holdout, greatly embarrassing Budapest after the Orban government pledged numerous times that Budapest would not be the last one in the line.
The Hungarian prime minister in a desperate move invited his Swedish counterpart to Budapest on Tuesday, just before the vote, but his offer was rejected by the Swedish foreign minister who said there was nothing to discuss.
It is clear that the Hungarian prime minister, Russian President Vladimir Putin's last ally in the EU, has lost the trust of many of his European interlocutors.
