NATO Membership: Hungary Demands Pledges From Sweden To Stop Attacking Conservative Policies

PRAGUE, CZECH REPUBLIC - OCTOBER 06: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban attends the fir
Lukas Kabon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Chris Tomlinson

The Hungarian government has demanded Sweden pledge to stop attacking the country’s conservative domestic policies in order to secure Hungarian approval for Sweden to join NATO.

Balázs Orbán, the chief of staff to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, told Hungarian media that some Hungarian members of parliament want reassurances from Sweden to stop attacking the domestic policies of their country, as has been frequently seen in recent years.

“Some Hungarian MPs do not feel comfortable because they have witnessed in recent years that certain Swedish government members made a habit of continually questioning the state of democracy in Hungary, they kept insulting Hungarian voters and MPs, and through them the whole of Hungary,” Orbán said, the Budapest Times newspaper reports.

“Hungarian MPs are waiting for the reassurance that there are no political debates between them anymore and there are no problems with the basic so Hungarian-Swedish cooperation,” he said.

Swedish politicians have a long history of slamming the Hungarian government’s conservative domestic policies, including some calling for Hungary to be expelled from the European Union.

Former Swedish Liberal Party leader Nyamko Sabuni called for the EU to possibly kick out Hungary over the country’s stance on LGBT issues, calling Hungary and Poland “authoritarian governments.”

“European co-operation is based on a range of liberal values. These include freedom of movement, human rights, and the rule of law,” Sabuni said in 2021 and added, “If you cannot subscribe to these values, then you have nothing to do with Europe. You have punished yourself.”

“One of the most important issues at the EU summit will be to draw up new, stricter rules on how countries can voluntarily withdraw from the Union and, if necessary, be forced into exclusion,” she said.

While criticism from parties on the left wing of the political spectrum is common for conservative-led Hungary, Swedish “conservatives”, who currently form the Swedish coalition government, have also attacked Hungary’s ruling party Fidesz in the past.

Swedish members of the European People’s Party (EPP), which includes members of the ruling centre-right Moderates and the Christian Democrats, were among those who signed a letter to kick Fidesz out of the EPP in 2020, claiming Viktor Orbán’s party had passed an emergency law during the coronavirus pandemic with the intention of making the state of emergency permanent.

“The fight against COVID-19 requires extensive measures, however, the virus cannot be used as a pretext to extend the state of emergency indefinitely. We fear that Prime Minister Orbán will use his newly achieved power to further extend the government’s grip on civil society,” the letter stated.

However, contrary to the speculation and claims of the EPP members, Hungary ended its state of emergency regarding the pandemic earlier than France, Italy and many other countries, ending it as early as May 2020.

Hungarian Justice Minister Judit Varga commented shortly after the end of the state of emergency saying, “It wasn’t the first time that we have fell victim to a campaign that had no basis whatsoever. But fortunately, in this case, the misleading and false information spread about us has obviously been proven wrong.”

Follow Chris Tomlinson on Twitter at @TomlinsonCJ or email at ctomlinson(at)breitbart.com.

 

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