Menu Close

Momentum Accuses Gov’t of Using “Social Consultation” to Intentionally Delay Finnish-Swedish Accession to NATO

Accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO is not on the agenda of the Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee because of an ongoing “social consultation,” writes Momentum politician Márton Tompos on his Facebook page. The party’s spokesperson and parliamentary deputy leader claimed that this was stated in a session of the Home Committee.

“We are hearing this lie now for the first time. Until now, they have not told us why there has been a delay,” said Márton Tompos, calling the “excuse” ridiculous. According to the opposition politician, this just confirms that the government views approving the two Nordic countries to join NATO as an opportunity to blackmail them.

On October 18, Telex found two files posted on the government’s website that contain the accession protocol, stating that, “The aim of this document is to initiate a social consultation and make the legislative process transparent.”

The documents do not indicate how long the consultation will take. Also provided is an e-mail address where comments can be sent: kozkapcsolat@mfa.gov.hu.

Sweden and Finland declared their intention to join NATO in June. Approval requires the support of all 30 member states, with 28 already having given the nod by the end of September.

Hungary and Turkey are the only holdouts left, despite the fact that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs submitted the relevant proposals to the Hungarian Parliament back in July. At the end of September, Telex received a response from the National Assembly that the proposals would be put on the agenda in the fall.

Opposition party MSZP proposed putting the topic on the agenda at the beginning of October, but MPs from the ruling Fidesz-KDNP parties rejected it. [Magyar Hang]

Posted in Foreign Relations

Related Posts

4 Comments

  1. Luis

    While the threat of vetoing the decisions of the Council is probably a useful weapon in Orbán’s negotiations to unblock the huge amounts of EU funds that his kleptocracy desperately needs to receive in order to stay afloat, I cannot for the life of me imagine what Hungary has to possibly gain by delaying Sweden’s and Finland’s accession to NATO.

    However, I can very well imagine what Russia has to gain by such a delay. Orbán’s government seems to be signalling a subservience to Putin’s interests that will not exactly endear Hungary to its allies.

  2. Misi bacsi

    I am certain that Luis is correct regarding the regime attempt to shake loose funds from the EU by delay tactics such as holding back on endorsing membership in NATO for Sweden and Finland. Right along side that observation, most readers will remember Hungary’s understandable plea for assistance during the Soviet Union suppression of the 1956 revolution. Orbán’s “subservience” to Putin is even more reprehensible given that fact alone. Of course, the memorial to Soviet troops in Liberty Square has never been as well maintained as under Orbán. And that is along side the regime’s false monument to Hungarian occupation by the nazi forces in 1944 i.e. Hungary was actually an ally of nazi Germany and it was the Hungarian bureaucracy that deported Jewish Hungarians to their death in 1944, not German forces. The misunderstanding and falsification of history by the Orbán regime never ends.

    • Steven

      As we come upon another anniversary of the 1956 revolution tomorrow, it’s hard not to see Ukrainians as the current heirs of that conflict, asking for pleas of assistance to fight the Russians just like the brave Hungarians did.

Comments are closed.