Hungary PM To Push Parliament To Approve Sweden Ratification

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has indicated that he will "continue to urge" the National Assembly to approve the ratification of Sweden's NATO bid after the approval by Turkey's Grand National Assembly is set to leave the central European nation as the only NATO state that has not given its assent. The Hungarian gov't had indicated earlier that it would seek further negotiations with Swedish PM Ulf Kristersson on Sweden's accession, but this brought short shrift from the Swedish foreign minister who statedthat "I see no reason to negotiated at this point."

• The Hungarian National Assembly is set to reconvene on 26 February, barring an emergency recall.
• Bloomberg notes, "there’s a sense that Orban, [...] could have overplayed his hand on Sweden. Hungary’s government submitted the ratification text to parliament in 2022 and then let it languish, eroding the goodwill of allies. All the while Orban kept telling them that Hungary would ratify before Turkey, a pledge that’s now soured."