Hungarian Officials Decline to Meet With US Senators

A bipartisan delegation of US senators made an official visit to Hungary's capital Sunday and called on the nationalist government to immediately approve Sweden's request to join NATO. Hungary is the only one of NATO's 31 members not to have ratified Sweden's bid. The Hungarian government faces mounting pressure to act after delaying the move for more than 18 months; admitting a new country to the military alliance requires unanimous approval. The senators announced they would submit a joint resolution to Congress condemning alleged democratic backsliding in Hungary and urging the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to lift its block on Sweden's trans-Atlantic integration, the AP reports.

"With accession, Hungary and your prime minister will be doing a great service to freedom-loving nations worldwide," Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said during a news conference at the US Embassy in Budapest. The resolution was authored by Tillis and Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. Joining them in Budapest was Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy. Earlier this month, Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin, chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, raised the prospect of sanctioning Hungary for its conduct and called Orbán "the least reliable member of NATO." The resolution, obtained by the AP, points out Hungary's failure to keep promises not to be the last NATO ally to sign off on Sweden's membership.

Orbán has said that he favors making Sweden part of NATO but that lawmakers in his party remained unconvinced because of "blatant lies" from Swedish politicians about Hungary's democracy. But in a speech on Saturday, Orbán indicated that Hungary's legislature might soon relent. On Sunday, Shaheen called it disappointing that no members of the Hungarian government had accepted invitations to meet the delegation but said she's hopeful Sweden's accession would be submitted for ratification on Feb. 26 when Hungarian lawmakers reconvene. Murphy said the government's refusal to meet was "strange and concerning." Hungary's foreign minister said Friday that he welcomed the senators' visit but that it was "not worth trying to exert pressure on us, because we are a sovereign country."

(More Hungary stories.)