Hungary parliament speaker sees "no urgency" in voting on Sweden's NATO accession

Hungary's parliamentary speaker said on January 25 that there was no urgency in approving Sweden's NATO membership bid after ratification by Türkiye left only Budapest holding up the lengthy accession process.

Türkiye's general assembly, where President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's ruling alliance holds a majority, voted 287-55 to approve the application that Sweden first made in 2022 to bolster its security in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Sweden's accession requires the formal approval of all 31 member states including Hungary, but winning Türkiye's backing was widely considered the biggest remaining hurdle to overcome.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has friendly relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin despite Moscow's war in Ukraine, said on January 24 that he would urge lawmakers to approve Sweden's accession at the first possible opportunity.

"I do not feel any particular urgency. Moreover, I do not think there is an extraordinary situation," parliamentary speaker Laszlo Kover told the news website Index, Reuters reports.

The Hungarian parliament is not currently in session. The opposition Socialist party said this week it would call for an extraordinary session to approve Sweden's NATO entry bid, stranded in the Hungarian legislature since mid-2022 despite repeated pledges by Mr Orban to support it.

Mr Orban has a commanding majority in parliament which he has often used to ram through legislation, in some cases overnight, with ruling party lawmakers rubber-stamping policy changes.

He added that he personally did not support Sweden's NATO membership.