He Parliament of Hungary ratified this Monday with a large majority the entry of Finland into NATOafter more than eight months of repeated postponements, but without deciding yet on the accession of Sweden.
Beyond the Fidesz votes, the party of Ultranationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbánwhich has a two-thirds majority, the accession was also approved by the opposition, except for the extreme right of Nuestra Patria.
Only Hungary and Turkey, of the 30 members of the Alliance, had not ratified the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO
In the last eight months Hungary has several times postponed the debate and the parliamentary vote on the entry of the two Nordic countries.
The Hungarian opposition, as well as various analysts, have pointed out that Fidesz follows Turkish policy on this matter.
In fact, the Secretary of State for Communication, Zoltán Kovács, announced his support for Finland’s entry into NATO on the same day as the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
At the moment it is unknown when the Hungarian Parliament will vote on the accession of Sweden.
In the first days of March, Orbán explained that although he supports integration, both Sweden and Finland “have spread lies” about the situation of democracy and the rule of law in Hungary and later a Fidesz delegation traveled to both countries to discuss on that matter.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said last week that Turkey’s parliament will also start ratifying Finland’s accession, although it also refrained from approving Sweden’s candidacy.
NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, stated that he had urged Turkey and Hungary to ratify both candidacies. The vote on the Stockholm bid is not yet scheduled in Budapest.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s top political adviser tweeted on Sunday that the government supported Sweden’s entry into NATO and that “now it is up to parliament to make a decision.”
“Some MPs are concerned that Swedish government officials are in the habit of constantly questioning the state of Hungarian democracy, thus insulting our voters, MPs and the country as a whole,” Balazs Orban, who is not related to the prime minister, tweeted.
Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The heavy week, The The Riksdag (Swedish Parliament) approved by 269 votes in favor and 37 against the entry of this Nordic country into NATOa historic decision that puts an end to two centuries of military non-alignment.
(With information from EFE and Reuters)
Keep reading:
NATO asked alliance members to quickly increase their defense spending in the face of Putin’s attack on Ukraine
Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to discuss Finland’s accession to NATO in the Turkish parliament
Poland announced that it will send warplanes to Ukraine: it is the first NATO country to do so
Source-www.infobae.com