Less than a week after the EU leaders decided to provide €50 billion in financial support for Ukraine over the next four years, the liberals have already found a new issue that will allow them to build a ‘pressure coalition’ against Hungary: the approval of Sweden’s NATO accession.

Polish Defence Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz has called for ‘a coalition of pressure’ to persuade Hungary ‘to agree’ to Sweden’s NATO accession immediately, the PAP Polish news agency has reported. The Polish deputy prime minister believes that the ratification is about the fundamental issue of the security of Europe and the world and the strengthening of NATO’s northern wing. At a press conference on Tuesday, he said that ‘after the favourable decision of Türkiye, which agreed to Sweden’s accession to NATO, I believe that the Hungarians should immediately give such consent’.

The minister of defence in the government of liberal Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who seized power last December, also added that he would raise the issue with the primarily interest-based Visegrád Group, consisting of the Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia and Hungary, and the forum of European Union ministers as well as with the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg.

‘It is worth assembling a coalition to exert positive pressure, positive emotions to encourage Hungary to make a decision as soon as possible,’

he declared.

Germany is also pushing for Hungary to expedite the approval of Sweden’s NATO membership after members of the ruling Fidesz-KDNP coalition did not show up for the extraordinary parliamentary session that had been initiated by the left-wing Hungarian opposition groups in the National Assembly.

On Wednesday, a senior German official, quoted on condition of anonymity by POLITICO, said: ‘We believe that it is now a matter of loyalty to the alliance and, more generally, of friendly behaviour between EU states that this should happen very quickly.’

It seems that less than a week after the EU leaders decided to provide €50 billion in financial support for Ukraine over the next four years, the liberals have already found a new issue that will allow them to build a ‘pressure coalition’ against Hungary: the approval of Sweden’s NATO accession.

Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has confirmed in several forums and personally to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg that Hungary supports Sweden’s NATO accession. At the same time, the Hungarian ruling party also made it clear that the Swedish ratification of NATO may take place early in the regular parliamentary session, but this would require a meeting between the two prime ministers in Budapest.

It is therefore incomprehensible why the Swedish prime minister has not yet responded positively to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s invitation, even though he visited Türkiye before the ratification. According to Viktor Orbán’s letter of invitation to his Swedish official partner, Ulf Kristersson, the topic of the prime minister’s meeting would be Sweden’s NATO accession, as well as the strengthening of Hungarian–Swedish bilateral relations and the deepening of trust.

There would be plenty to discuss to strengthen bilateral relations and deepen trust, since Swedish politicians, representatives of the government and members of the European Parliament have suggested in many forums in recent years, based on completely false claims, that there are problems with the rule of law in Hungary.

The spring session of the Hungarian parliament is expected to begin on 26 February.