Hungarian Prime Minister Victor Orban made statements on Sweden's NATO membership at a press conference in the capital Budapest yesterday. Orban said, "Our dispute with Sweden will be resolved soon. Parliament can approve Sweden's accession to NATO in the spring session."
Orban stated that he and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson have taken important steps to build trust between the countries, but did not give detailed information about these steps.
The spring session of the Hungarian Parliament will begin on Monday, February 26.
The session was boycotted
The Hungarian parliament convened on February 5 to discuss Sweden's accession at the request of the opposition. However, the coalition government formed by Prime Minister Viktor Orban's party Fidesz (Hungarian Citizens' Union) and KDNP (Christian Democratic People's Party) boycotted the session in question, and the quorum could not be gathered as the deputies did not attend the session. On the day of the meeting, ambassadors of some NATO member states, including the US, were present in the Hungarian parliament to put pressure on Budapest to approve Sweden's NATO membership. Sweden's NATO membership, which Turkey approved in January, requires the official approval of all 31 member states, including Hungary.
