Hungary Postpones Ratification Of Sweden/Finland Membership Again

Hungarian outlet HVG reports that the Hungarian National Assembly's ratification of the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO has been postponed once again. The report states that Deputy Prime Minister Zsolt Semjén sent a letter informing deputies that there would be no parliamentary sitting the week of 20 March, when the ratification was supposed to take place.

• Instead the week of 27 March or 3 April could be selected, with another 1-2 weeks after that until the final vote takes place.
• The postponement was, according to Semjen, because "ongoing negotiations with the European Commission" have not yet been concluded.
• There has been speculation that the gov't of PM Viktor Orban is dragging out the ratification process in order to extract concessions from the EU, which is keen to see both Nordic nations join the defensive alliance as soon as possible.