Orbà¡n keeping Nato in the dark on Finland and Sweden
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Loading... - Eirene Hondros
- 17 Oct 2022
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Concern is growing in Budapest that Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán is delaying ratification of Finland and Sweden's Nato accession for political reasons.
"There are rumours going round [in Hungarian political circles] that it might be because of Russia, because of the close relationship between Orbán and [Russian president Vladimir] Putin," Ágnes Vadai, a senior MP from Hungary's opposition Socialist Party, told EUobserver.
"Finnish and Swedish accession will make Nato stronger and that's not in Russia's interests," she said.
Nato members agreed unanimously at a summit in Madrid in June to let the two countries join.
The two Nordic nations already take part in Nato meetings as "invitee" members, but aren't covered by its mutual defence clause until all 30 Nato states ratify enlargement.
Some four months later, 28 out of 30 have done so already, leaving only Hungary and Turkey to make up their minds.
"So far, this has been the quickest ratification in Nato's modern history," a Nato official said.
'Dirty political games'
Turkish president Recep Tayyip ErdoÄŸan has made ratification conditional on Finland and Sweden's extradition of alleged Kurdish terrorists, amid ongoing talks on the issue between Ankara, Helsinki, and Stockholm. Read More...
