
The Fidesz-KDNP alliance voted down the debate on Finland and Sweden, there is only one NATO member state other than Hungary that did not approve the accession of the two northern European countries. Fidesz-KDNP rejected a proposal by the MSZP to have Parliament vote tomorrow on the admission
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The opposition party wanted to complete the agenda of Tuesday’s sitting with a general debate on “Bill T/637 on the proclamation of the Protocol on the accession of the Republic of Finland to the North Atlantic Treaty” and “Bill T/638 on the proclamation of the Protocol on the accession of the Kingdom of Sweden to the North Atlantic Treaty”. Speaker László Kövér rejected the amendment, citing a point in the House’s rules, and in response Bertalan Tóth, co-chairman of the MSZP, called for the Speaker’s decision to be repealed. This was voted down by Fidesz-KDNP MEPs, who had a two-thirds majority, 117-39.
“Shame!” – Bertalan Tóth commented in a Facebook post.
Apart from Hungary, there is only one NATO member state out of 30 that has not yet ratified the Swedish and Finnish applications to join the North Atlantic alliance. That is Turkey, whose authoritarian leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan has openly threatened to veto the governments of Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, citing security concerns – including reservations about the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which is also registered as a terrorist organisation by the EU and the US. A trilateral memorandum to allay Turkish doubts was finally reached at a summit in Madrid on 28 June, but the Ankara leadership is unlikely to bring the Swedish and Finnish NATO membership to the legislature before the parliamentary elections in June 2023. The reason for this is simply that Recep Tayyip Erdogan does not want to appear soft.
Hungary officially supports Finnish and Swedish accession to NATO, but the Turkish “sensitivities” should also be taken into account, Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said in May.
In unrelated news, Russia agreed to accept delayed payments for gas from Hungary.
If a proposal comes from the opposition then it’s an automatic no-go, regardless of the topic. I don’t think you should read too much into this
Why is Hungary still in the EU? What benefit does it bring us? Time to end their membership in the EU and Nato.
Trianon wasn’t enough.