Hungary indicates it may ratify Sweden’s Nato bid in autumn

Move follows Turkey agreeing to put Stockholm's bid before parliament when it reconvenes

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, shakes hands with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban during a meeting in Ankara in 2021. AP

A politician in Hungary's ruling Fidesz party said the country may ratify Sweden’s Nato membership bid in the autumn, which would clear one of the last hurdles remaining for the Nordic nation to become a full-fledged member of the alliance.

Zsolt Nemeth, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of parliament, said on Thursday that an extraordinary parliamentary session would not be needed to approve the decision.

Instead it is expected to be discussed when parliament reconvenes for its regular autumn session in mid-September.

Sweden's Nato membership bid has been blocked for months by Hungary and Turkey. Both Finland and Sweden decided to apply to join Nato following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year.

Mr Nemeth said there was no urgency for Hungary to call an extraordinary session of parliament for earlier approval, as Turkey would only discuss the ratification process when its national assembly reconvenes October 1.

Turkey appeared to drop its opposition to Sweden’s application at the Nato summit in Vilnius this week after more than a year of insisting that Stockholm further crack down on Kurdish activists living in the Nordic country that Ankara labels terrorists.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban had said from the outset that Hungary would approve Sweden’s bid once Turkey agrees, which Mr Nemeth said was part of a “complicated diplomacy play”.

Mr Orban also said Hungary would not be the last one to approve the accession bid.

“The Turkish-Swedish debate created political opportunities for Hungary,” Mr Nemeth said, with Hungary having closely co-operated with Turkey throughout the talks.

Meanwhile, Sweden's top court on Thursday blocked the extradition of two Turks that Ankara says are part of a terrorist group, potentially complicating Stockholm's bid.

Turkey is seeking the extradition of two Turkish citizens from Sweden on accusations they are part of the Gulen movement, which it designates a terrorist organisation.

Ankara says US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen was behind a coup attempt in 2016.

Sweden's government decides on extradition requests and has the final say. But the country's Supreme Court said there were legal obstacles to agreeing to Turkey's request in this case.

“It is a kind of advisory statement from the Supreme Court, but if the Supreme Court said that extradition cannot happen because there are legal challenges that contradict it, the government is not allowed to extradite the person,” Justice of the Supreme Court Cecilia Renfors told Reuters.

The court said in a statement that in Turkey's view, the two committed a criminal act by joining the Gulen movement via a mobile application used by its members.

These actions alone did not equate to participation in a terrorist organisation under Swedish law, the court said. It added that extradition must be based on actions that constitute a crime in both Sweden and Turkey.

Another obstacle is that the two people were at risk of persecution in Turkey, it said.

Hundreds of people were jailed in Turkey after the 2016 coup attempt based on evidence that they had downloaded the app on their phone.

In an interview published by Turkish media on Thursday, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said it was up to parliament to follow the steps that Sweden would take and make a decision based on Turkey's interests.

“The concrete steps in relation to the promises that were made primarily include ending the activities of terrorist organisations in the countries in question, [and] the repatriation of the terrorists,” he was quoted as saying.

He also said he expects EU countries to take some steps on updating a customs union and visa-free travel and Nato countries to lift restrictions on arms sales to Turkey.

“As a result of the positive effort we see from the European Union, we will start work on implementing the promises we have made … From now on, we will act according to whether the promises that are made are implemented,” he said.