UNITED NATIONS: The West’s steady criticism of Hungary on democratic and cultural issues makes the small European country’s right-wing government reluctant to offer support on practical matters, specifically NATO’s buildup against Russia, Hungary’s foreign minister said. Hungarian foreign minister Péter Szijjártó also said Friday that his country has not voted on whether to allow Finland and Sweden to join NATO because Hungarian lawmakers are sick of those countries’ critiques of Hungarian domestic affairs.
Lawmakers from the governing party plan to vote Monday in favor of the Finnish request but “serious concerns were raised” about Finland and Sweden “mostly because of the very disrespectful behavior of the political elites of both countries towards Hungary,” Szijjártó said. “You know, when Finnish and Swedish politicians question the democratic nature of our political system, that’s really unacceptable,” he said. The timing of avote on Sweden is harder to predict, Szijjártó said.
The EU, which includes 21 NATO countries, has frozen billions in funds to Budapest and accused populist PM Viktor Orban of cracking down on media freedom and LGBTQ rights.
Lawmakers from the governing party plan to vote Monday in favor of the Finnish request but “serious concerns were raised” about Finland and Sweden “mostly because of the very disrespectful behavior of the political elites of both countries towards Hungary,” Szijjártó said. “You know, when Finnish and Swedish politicians question the democratic nature of our political system, that’s really unacceptable,” he said. The timing of avote on Sweden is harder to predict, Szijjártó said.
The EU, which includes 21 NATO countries, has frozen billions in funds to Budapest and accused populist PM Viktor Orban of cracking down on media freedom and LGBTQ rights.