Hungary's parliamentary speaker said on Thursday there was no urgency in approving Sweden's NATO membership bid after ratification by Türkiye left only Budapest holding up the lengthy accession process, APA reports citing Reuters.
Türkiye's general assembly, where President Tayyip Erdogan's ruling alliance holds a majority, voted 287-55 to approve the application that Sweden first made in 2022 to bolster its security in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Sweden's accession requires the formal approval of all 31 member states including Hungary, but winning Türkiye's backing was widely considered the biggest remaining hurdle to overcome.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Wednesday he would urge lawmakers to approve Sweden's accession at the first possible opportunity.
But parliamentary speaker Laszlo Kover told news website index.hu: "I do not feel any particular urgency. Moreover, I do not think there is an extraordinary situation."
The Hungarian parliament is not currently in session. The opposition Socialist party said this week it would call for an extraordinary session to approve Sweden's NATO entry bid, stranded in the Hungarian legislature since mid-2022 despite repeated pledges by Orban to support it.
Kover added that he personally did not support Sweden's NATO membership.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg urged Orban on Wednesday to ratify Sweden's NATO accession.
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