Sweden expects Hungarian MPs to visit next week over NATO bid

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – A delegation of Hungarian lawmakers plans to visit Sweden on March 7 to discuss the Nordic country’s bid to join NATO, a Swedish parliament spokesperson said on Thursday.

The delegation, led by Deputy Speaker Csaba Hende, will meet with among others Swedish Speaker Andreas Norlen, the spokesperson said.

Finland earlier this week said it also expects a Hungarian delegation to visit.

Sweden and Finland applied last year to join the defence alliance due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Hungary and Turkey are the only NATO members to not yet have ratified the bids.

On Wednesday, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s Fidesz party said it would back the ratification, as lawmakers in the Central European country began the process after a months-long delay.

(Reporting by Anna Ringstrom, editing by Terje Solsvik)