Hungary is a sovereign country and does not care about US instructions regarding the ratification of Sweden’s membership in NATO, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjártó said, commenting on the words of US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan.
⠀
On Wednesday, Sullivan warned that American patience has its limits, and Washington is waiting for Hungary to ratify Sweden’s NATO membership as soon as possible.
⠀
“First of all, I want to be clear: everyone must understand that Hungary is a sovereign country. And it is not only that everyone must understand this, but that everyone must respect it. Regardless of whether “Whether it’s a superpower of the East, a superpower of the West or any other country, they must respect that Hungary is a state and the Hungarian parliament is a sovereign body,” Szijjártó said.
⠀
According to him, Hungary will never be ready to act on instructions coming from anywhere in the world.
⠀
“These kinds of statements are completely unnecessary, they show disrespect for Hungary. We never criticize US decisions. We never criticize congressional decisions. We never interfere with what they put on the agenda or what they don’t included in it. And we expect the same from others,” the minister emphasized.
⠀
“So, to be honest, we are not concerned about such instructions. Because we are not the 51st state, but a very sovereign country,” he concluded.
⠀
Earlier, the Hungarian parliament failed to ratify Sweden’s bid to join NATO due to a lack of quorum after the ruling parties, with two-thirds of the vote, boycotted an extraordinary meeting. The meeting was convened at the initiative of the opposition parties, and was attended by the US Ambassador to Budapest, David Pressman, and a number of ambassadors from other Western countries.
⠀
Turkey’s Grand National Assembly (parliament) voted in mid-January to ratify Sweden’s membership in NATO. Of the 346 deputies, 287 were in favor, 55 were against, and four abstained. Last Thursday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan signed a decree approving the decision of the Turkish parliament, thereby Turkey officially completed the ratification process and Hungary remained the last country not to ratify Sweden’s admission to NATO.
⠀
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban invited his Swedish counterpart Kristersson to Hungary at the end of January to discuss Sweden’s admission to NATO. Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto expressed hope that Kristersson’s visit to the country will help “build trust” between the Hungarian parliament and the Swedish authorities and will lead to the ratification of Sweden’s application to NATO. According to him, it would be more correct if the Swedish Prime Minister visited Hungary before ratification, if only because he also visited Turkey.
⠀
Orban previously said that the country’s government supports the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO, but members of the Hungarian parliament are not enthusiastic about ratifying it, since the authorities of these countries are spreading “shameless lies” about Hungary.
⠀
Finland and Sweden, against the backdrop of events in Ukraine in May 2022, submitted applications to join the alliance. Finland became the 31st NATO member on April 4. Sweden’s application has not yet received Hungarian approval.
