Swede in!
(AP) — “A vote in Hungary’s parliament on ratifying Sweden’s bid to join NATO could come as early as Monday(26 Feb), according to a senior member of the country’s governing Fidesz party...
In a letter on Tuesday (20 Feb) to the speaker of the parliament, the head of the Fidesz caucus, Máté Kocsis, requested that a vote be scheduled for the opening day of the spring session, which begins on Monday.
Kocsis wrote that Fidesz, which has repeatedly blocked a vote on the matter, will opt to support Sweden’s bid to join the trans-Atlantic military alliance...
...(Orban’s) government has insisted that Sweden’s Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, make a visit to Budapest to assuage concerns that Swedish politicians had spoken disrespectfully about the health of Hungary’s democracy.
But in a state of the nation speech in Budapest on Saturday, Orbán indicated that Hungary’s legislature might soon relent.
“It’s good news that our dispute with Sweden is nearing a conclusion,” he said. “We are moving towards ratifying Sweden’s accession to NATO at the beginning of the spring session of Parliament.”
Orbán’s press chief announced that Kristersson will visit Budapest on Friday (23 Feb) for discussions on defense and security cooperation, adding that the results of the meeting will be announced in a news conference.
Orban is desperate for relevance, and it looks like Kristersson will be the bigger man and give him a fig leaf. Note that at no time has Sweden played the Gripen card, which would leave Hungarian air force without a fighter jet. At least not publicly.