Vote to approve Sweden and Finland’s NATO bids postponed
March 4th, 2023Commentators take it for granted that despite a two-week delay, parliament will ratify the request of the two Nordic countries to join NATO.
Reporting on the decision to delay the final vote by two weeks, Magyar Nemzet’s Patrik Máté writes that repeated ‘rude and baseless insults’ against Hungary by Swedish and Finnish politicians make it necessary for Hungarian legislators to send a delegation to ‘settle the dispute’. The delegation will leave for Helsinki and Stockholm next Tuesday 7 March and the final vote will take place two weeks later. The government, he writes, is committed to approving Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership, which is only opposed by the far-right Mi Hazánk party in Parliament.
On the HVG website, Tibor Lengyel interprets the delay as well as the trip of the delegation to Sweden and Finland as a ‘political move’ rather than an opportunity for serious negotiations. Once all representatives of the ruling party have expressed support for the two countries’ membership, Lengyel sees no reason why Parliament should vote otherwise, regardless of the results of the talks the delegation will conduct in the two Nordic capitals.
Tags: Finland, NATO, Parliament, Sweden, Ukraine