The Hungarian government has yet to approve Sweden’s bid to join the NATO military alliance and now a government minister is calling on Sweden to explain the deterioration of relations between the two countries in recent months ahead of any possible yes vote on the issue in the Hungarian parliament.
Gergely Gulyás, Minister of the Hungarian Prime Minister’s Office, stated on Wednesday, October 25th, at a press conference that a Hungarian approval of Sweden’s application to join the NATO alliance is not as clear as it once was, broadcaster SVT reports.
“The Swedes have to explain what has happened recently,” he said, noting that Swedish politicians have criticised Hungary’s democracy, and stated,
If they think their opinion is a mistake, let them make it clear. If they think they were right, I don’t know why they want to be in a club with us.
Sweden has long been a critic of Hungary, particularly within the context of the European Union. In April of this year, the country joined an EU lawsuit against Hungary aimed at Hungarian laws protecting children from the promotion of homosexuality or gender ideology.
Balázs Orbán, a Hungarian member of parliament and political director for Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, listed several prior quotes from Swedish politicians who are current ministers in the cabinet of Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson to show why some Hungarian MPs had issues with the current government.
Orbán quoted the current Swedish Minister for EU Affairs, Jessika Roswall, who stated in 2021, “It is now required that the EU act clearly and that the new conditionality mechanism stops payments to Hungary.” He also quoted Swedish Minister for Employment and Integration, Johan Pehrson, who last year stated,
Hungary’s xenophobic and nationalist government continues to violate the principle of rule of law and waivers in supporting Ukraine.
Relations between the two countries dipped even further last month when Swedish public broadcaster Utbildningsradion (UR) released a video painting Hungary as an anti-democratic country, which provoked outrage among the Hungarian public.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjárto reacted to the video by writing a letter to Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström in which he said,
You urge our parliamentarians to ratify your accession to NATO while you continue to accuse them of destroying democracy in Hungary.
Balázs Orbán also spoke out against the video, saying, “shocking Swedish government-approved educational video attacking Hungary! How do we convince Hungarian MPs to support Sweden’s [NATO] membership when our democracy is repeatedly questioned, insulting both our voters and the entire country? Actions like this will definitely make negotiations more challenging.”
Sweden applied to join NATO at the same time as neighbouring Finland but has yet to get the approval of Hungary or Turkey, which has also slammed Sweden in recent months for allowing demonstrations in which copies of the Quran have been destroyed and set on fire.
While Turkey expressed outrage over the Quran burnings, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has approved Sweden’s NATO bid and passed the matter on to the Turkish parliament earlier this week, although no exact date has been given for a vote on the matter.
