EFFORTS to expand the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to 32 member states once again failed to reach a crucial breakthrough after the Hungarian parliament failed to ratify Sweden’s NATO bid due to low attendance.
The vote got postponed after members of the ruling party Hungarian Civic Alliance (FIDESZ) and the Christian Democratic People’s Party (KDNP), which holds a two-thirds majority in parliament, have not showed up during the meeting.
The opposition lawmakers who attended the extraordinary session voted to admit Sweden into NATO but the lack of quorum caused the session to get adjourned.
Out of 199 Hungarian lawmakers, only 47 took part in the vote.
To recall, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban mentioned earlier this year that more talks between parliamentary groups were needed before lawmakers voted on Sweden’s ratification because some of them believed that Finland and its Nordic neighbor were spreading “lies” about Hungary.
Of the 31-strong alliance, only Hungary and Türkiye are yet to ratify their national laws on Swedish membership.
Sweden’s accession to the world’s largest military alliance will not be finalized until all member states do so.
Meanwhile, the United States imposed restrictions for Hungarian passport holders under its visa waiver program on the same day that Hungary failed to vote on Sweden’s NATO bid.
American officials cited Budapest’s failure to address security vulnerabilities repeatedly raised by Washington as the basis for the visa restrictions.
