Poland’s Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said he will seek to win a pledge from his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban to back the NATO bids of Finland and Sweden as quickly as possible, according to Bloomberg.
Hungary has been dragging its feet over the vote in parliament that would ratify Finland’s and Sweden’s membership in the alliance, saying lawmakers were preoccupied with passing legislation related to efforts to unblock European Union funds.
Speaking before his departure for a meeting in neighboring Slovakia on Thursday, Morawiecki said he recently promised Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin to raise the topic with Orban.
Long-time allies in defying the EU, Poland and Hungary have somewhat parted ways this year over Orban’s reluctance to back a tougher stance against Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. The government in Budapest said the NATO enlargement texts will be approved next month.
Still, Hungary is not the only NATO member to stall on the approval process. Turkey has recently blocked the admission of Sweden and Finland over concerns about US and European support for Kurdish militants that Ankara regards as terrorists.