Hungary Delays Vote on Ratification of Sweden's NATO Membership

London – Hungary's parliament delayed a vote to ratify membership of Sweden in NATO, due to the absence of ruling party lawmakers, according to local media on Monday.

The vote was postponed after members of the ruling party, which has a two-thirds majority in parliament, didn't attend the meeting, the Hungarian Daily News reported.

In speeches at the session, opposition lawmakers criticized the ruling party members for their absence, the report added.

Last week, Hungary said it would support Turkey's decision on Sweden's application for NATO membership.

"If there is a change (in Turkiye's stance), then we will keep our promise that Hungary will not hold back any country in any form of membership," Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijarto told reporters in Budapest.

Ahead of the July NATO summit, President of Turkiye Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to take Sweden's application to join NATO to parliament after a trilateral meeting between NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius.

Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership after Russia launched an attack on Ukraine in February 2022.

Although Turkiye approved Finland's application for NATO membership, the country is still waiting for Sweden's commitment to give no place to terrorists and terrorist supporters and not give a green light to their actions.

After Turkiye's move, Szijarto said that his country's ratification of Sweden's application for NATO membership is now "just a technical issue."