If Joining NATO is Important to the Swedes, “They Will Come Here”

On the initiative of the opposition, parliamentary speaker László Kövér convened a special session of parliament on Monday. In addition to a vote on the bill on Sweden’s accession to NATO, two motions initiated by the opposition were also on the agenda.

The proposal for Sweden’s accession to NATO was debated in parliament on March 1 last year and only the final vote is still pending. Fidesz party announced last week that the governing parties would not participate in the session initiated by the opposition. The extraordinary session of parliament, that was possibly initiated with the aim of discrediting the governing parties, was ended after the speeches due to a lack of quorum.

The ratification of Sweden’s accession to NATO could take place right at the beginning of the regular parliamentary session, but this would require a meeting between the two prime ministers in Budapest,

according to the Fidesz parliamentary group leader. Máté Kocsis wrote on his Facebook page that if accession was important to the Swedes, they would come here, just as they had done with traveling to Turkey.

During today’s government meeting in Sopron, West Hungary, the Foreign Minister informed that he had spoken to his Estonian counterpart on the phone. “I informed the minister that we have invited the Swedish Prime Minister to Hungary and I hope that he will accept our invitation and come, as this would prove that this is indeed an important issue for Sweden,” said Péter Szijjártó.

Among the speakers before the agenda was Bence Tordai, the parliamentary group leader of the opposition Dialogue for Hungary – Greens, who said that it is in Hungary’s national interest for Sweden to become a member of NATO. According to Előd Novák (Our Homeland Movement), it is also in the interest of the Swedes not to aggravate the war conflict by joining NATO. Koloman Brenner, a Jobbik politician, said that it was against Hungary’s national interest to delay Sweden’s accession to NATO. In his speech, Tamás Harangozó, MSZP MP, particularly welcomed some ambassadors of the allied countries attending the meeting, including US Ambassador David Pressman, and called it “a national disgrace” that Sweden’s accession to NATO had not yet been ratified.

At the end of the meeting, a letter from Máté Kocsis (Fidesz) and István Simicskó (KDNP) was read out, in which the leaders of the governing parties confirmed that their MPs would not be attending the extraordinary meeting.

Via MTI; Ungarn Heute;Featured Photo: MTI/Koszticsák Szilárd