NATO | Hungary’s ratification vote may drag on until the end of March, says Orbán’s chief of staff

Vote The ratification of Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership in the Hungarian Parliament may take until the end of March, says the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán undersecretary Gergely Gulyás according to news agency Reuters.

According to a legislative proposal published on the Hungarian parliament’s website, the vote on ratification would take place on March 6, but Gulyás said on Saturday that the matter might require more time.

Along with Turkey, Hungary is the only one of the 30 NATO member states that has not yet ratified the membership of Finland and Sweden, which submitted their applications last May.

In order to become a member of the military alliance, all member countries must first ratify the applicants’ membership.

Hungarian Minister of Justice Judit Varga said in an interview with HS published on Saturday that the Hungarian government has always been in favor of ratifying the applications of Finland and Sweden.

Read more: Hungarian Minister of Justice Judit Varga: The Hungarian government supports the NATO membership of Finland and Sweden

However, the country has repeatedly postponed the processing of the case. According to opposition representatives, there are differences on the matter within the prime minister’s party, Fidesz.

Orbán said in a radio interview on Friday that the parliament still needs to hold discussions before it accepts Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership.

According to Reuters, Orbán accused Finland and Sweden of spreading “outright lies” about the state of Hungary’s democracy and the rule of law.

Gulyás said on Saturday that the country’s parliament will put the issue on the agenda on Monday and at the same time start discussing the legislation.

“Based on Hungarian legislative procedures, it will take about four weeks to pass the law, which means that the parliament can vote on it sometime in the second half of March, the week starting March 21,” Gulyás said.

In other contexts, Hungarian “legislative procedures” have tended to considerably faster schedules. For example, last July, according to Reuters, the government and parliament passed the law dealing with the taxation of small businesses in just two days.