The Prime Minister of Hungary, Viktor Orbán, assured this Wednesday that he had a telephone conversation with the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, in which he reaffirmed his Government’s “support” for Sweden’s accession to the military alliance.
“I also stressed that we will continue to urge the Hungarian National Assembly to vote in favor of Sweden’s accession and complete its ratification at the first possible opportunity,” Orbán wrote on the X social network.
“Cold War 2.0”: Why NATO holds its largest military exercises in 35 years
For his part, Stoltenberg confirmed the dialogue and welcomed Budapest’s position, noting that he hopes Stockholm’s entry will be approved “as soon as Parliament reconvenes.”
The news comes a day after Orbán reported that he had sent a letter to Sweden’s Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, inviting him to visit Hungary “to negotiate accession.” According to the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, which had access to the document, the Hungarian prime minister believes that both countries must strengthen mutual trust through a “more intense political dialogue.” “I am convinced that strong mutual trust must be the basis of political or security agreements between Sweden and Hungary,” Orbán wrote.
On that same day, Turkey ratified Sweden’s membership in NATO, after almost two years of delays and objections. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had approved Finland’s accession at the beginning of last April, and shortly after, the Scandinavian country officially became NATO’s 31st member. With RT
