Bipartisan US Senators Prepare Resolution Condemning Hungary

Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Thom Tilis (R-NC), the joint chairs of the Senate’s NATO Observer Group, are preparing to unveil a Senate resolutioncondemning Hungary for a variety of reasons including democratic backsliding, curtailing media freedom, and a “deepening relationship with Russia and China.”

• The resolution, which is expected to come next week, also condemns Budapest for slow-walking Sweden’s NATO membership bid and accuses the country of, “jeopardizing transatlantic security at a key moment for peace and stability in Europe.”
• The resolution comes after Shaheen, Tillis, and Senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) traveled to Budapest on Sunday to urge Hungary to ratify Sweden's accession to NATO. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and members of his Fidesz party all declined the meet the group.
• Shaheen said after the 'snub': “I’m disappointed to say that nobody from the government would meet with us while we were here.”
• Punchbowl News notes: “Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chair Ben Cardin (D-MD) suggested earlier this month that the country may be deserving of human-rights sanctions, which would be an unprecedented action against a fellow NATO member.”