After Türkiye’s step the Nordic expansion of the NATO could depend on Hungary
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will soon give his country’s blessing to Finland’s NATO membership. Pressure from NATO could increase on Hungary as the parliament delay vote on NATO membership for Sweden and Finland again.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested that Turkey could soon ratify Finland’s application to join NATO, index.hu reports based on the official Finnish governmental communication.
Erdogan makes important statements
Reuters also reports that Turkey’s parliament will “highly likely” ratify Finland’s NATO accession bid before mid-April. Reuters attributed this information to two Turkish officials.
Finnish President Sauli Niinisto is set to meet with Erdogan on Friday. The Turkish president pledges to ratify Finnland’s application to NATO.
“We will do our part, we will keep our promise. We will meet with the president on Friday and fulfil the promise we made” – Erdogan is quoted by index.hu.
Hungarian parliament delays vote on Finland, Sweden again
This means that Hungary will remain the only NATO member country that hasn’t yet approved the two Nordic countries’ bids to join the Western military alliance.
In the latest installment of the saga surrounding the long-delayed vote dating back to July 2022, a parliamentary session was set to start on 20 March, during which lawmakers were expected to vote on the two Nordic countries joining NATO. However, according to hvg.hu, due to the request of Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén, the session will be postponed by a week.
Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky told index that in recent years, Hungary has been the target of regrettably untrue and false accusations from politicians from both countries.
“Hungary deserves more respect, so we would like the ratification process to be completed so that in the future we can engage in political dialogue as partners and allies who trust each other” – the defence minister is quoted by index.hu.
Read alsoOrbán: Petőfi would turn against those who want to put Hungarians into a European superstate
Using NATO as a bargaining tactic?
So far the Hungarian government has maintained its position that the issue of NATO enlargement is not linked to any negotiations with the European Commission and the alleged breaches of the EU’s rule-of-law requirements. This dispute means that the EU Commission withholds 65 percent of the regional funds from Hungary, which amounts to EUR 7.5 billion.
However, it looks like the Hungarian government could have used the NATO enlargement issue as a bargaining tool with the EU Commission. Hvg.hu presented a leaked letter from Zsolt Semjén, in which he explains the postponement of the vote by saying that the “ongoing negotiations with the European Commission” have not yet been concluded.
Source: index.hu, Reuters, hvg.hu
4 Comments
Extortion – What a great way to make “allies and partners” in military defence. Yes, EU is also using extortion to make Hungary follow the same rules as all other membership states in the EU. That has nothing to do with NATO military alliance.
It’s too bad (for the rest of us), that the majority of our voting public has their eyes (and ears) wide SHUT when when general elections come around. They’re just a herd of Racka who blindly follow Orbán and his FIDESZ cohorts, and when we get the short end of the stick (from Orbán), those very same voters just moan that there was no real alternative.
This Government is just playing childish games with friendly countries’ security.
Extortion by the EU – ehhh. For Hungary not adhering to the Copenhagen criteria, the multinational agreements and treaties we signed?
The EU accession criteria, or Copenhagen criteria are essential conditions all countries must satisfy and continue to comply with as a member state. These are:
1. political criteria: stability of institutions guaranteeing democracy, the rule of law, human rights and respect for and protection of minorities;
2. economic criteria: a functioning market economy and the capacity to cope with competition and market forces; and
3. administrative and institutional capacity to effectively implement the acquis and ability to take on the obligations of membership.
The acquis is the body of common rights and obligations that is binding on all the EU member states. It is constantly evolving and comprises:
1. the content, principles and political objectives of the Treaties;
2. legislation adopted pursuant to the Treaties and the case law of the Court of Justice;
3. declarations and resolutions adopted by the Union;
4. instruments under the Common Foreign and Security Policy;
5. international agreements concluded by the Union and those entered into by the member states among themselves within the sphere of the Union’s activities.
Our super important Sovereignty our Politicians love to bang on about is limited by what we relinquished by entering into these multinational arrangements. Basta.
@Norbert:
No, no, we had a “gun” held to our head when made our application to join the EU, and then again, when we signed, and all through the years when we so gladly took the EU funds (that practically keep our country afloat).
Sooo right,basta!
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…The Orbán Government wants, and enjoys, all the benefits of being in the EU (and for that matter NATO), but won’t folow the rules, and obligations of being a member State.
And to top that, he campaings against the EU, as if it was an enemy, when some funding is witheld due to OUR GOVERNMENT not meeting the obligations of being a member State.