A bipartisan delegation of U.S. 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.

Senator Thom Tillis, co-chair of the Senate NATO Observer Group speaks, during a press conference, in Budapest, Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024. Two U.S. senators will submit a bipartisan resolution to Congress condemning democratic backsliding in Hungary and urging its nationalist government to lift its block on Sweden's accession into the NATO military alliance. The resolution, authored by U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat, and Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, comes as Hungary's government is under increasing pressure to ratify Sweden's bid to join NATO, something it has delayed for more than 18 months. 

Hungary is the only one of NATO's 31 existing 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 since admitting a new country to the military alliance requires unanimous approval.

The visiting 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.

“With accession, Hungary and your prime minister will be doing a great service to freedom-loving nations worldwide,” Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said during a news conference at the U.S. Embassy in Budapest.

The resolution, first reported early Sunday by The Associated Press, was authored by Tillis and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen, a New Hampshire Democrat. Joining them in the delegation to Budapest was Sen. Chris Murphy, a Democrat from Connecticut.

Shaheen said it was “disappointing” that no members of the Hungarian government had accepted invitations to meet the delegation but she was “hopeful and optimistic” Sweden’s accession would be submitted for ratification when Hungarian lawmakers reconvene on Feb. 26.

Murphy said the refusal of Orbán’s government to meet was “strange and concerning,” but that the onus was on the long-serving leader to push for a vote.

“We are wise enough about politics here to know that if Prime Minister Orbán wants this to happen, then the parliament can move forward,” he said.

Earlier this month, U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin, a Maryland Democrat and chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, raised the prospect of imposing sanctions on Hungary for its conduct, and called Orbán “the least reliable member of NATO.”

In the resolution, obtained by the AP, the senators note “the important role Hungary can have in European and trans-Atlantic security,” but point out its failure to keep earlier promises not to be the last NATO ally to sign off on Sweden's membership.

Hungary, the resolution says, “has not joined all other NATO member states in approving the accession of Sweden to NATO, failing to fulfill a commitment not to be last to approve such accession and jeopardizing trans-Atlantic security at a key moment for peace and stability in Europe.”

Orbán, a staunch nationalist who has led Hungary since 2010, 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 on the state of Hungary's democracy.

But in a state of the nation speech in Budapest on Saturday, Orbán indicated that Hungary’s legislature might soon relent.

“It’s good news that our dispute with Sweden is nearing a conclusion,” he said. “We are moving toward ratifying Sweden’s accession to NATO at the beginning of the spring session of Parliament.”

The senators' resolution criticizes Orbán's increasingly warm relations with Russia and China, and notes that while Hungary has opened its doors to Ukrainian refugees fleeing Moscow's invasion, it has also “resisted and diluted European Union sanctions with respect to the Russian Federation.”

Orbán, widely considered to be the Kremlin's closest EU ally, has long been criticized for flouting the bloc's standards on democracy and the rule of law. The EU has withheld billions in funding from Budapest over alleged breaches of its rules.

Hungary's government has also adopted an increasingly adversarial stance toward the administration of President Joe Biden, accusing the U.S. of attempting to influence Hungarian public life.

Péter Szijjártó, 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.”

“We are glad they are coming here because they can see for themselves that everything they read about Hungary in the liberal American media is a blatant lie," Szijjártó said.

Hungary can ratify Sweden’s NATO bid as soon as Feb 26, Orban says

Hungary can ratify Sweden’s NATO bid as soon as February 26 when the country’s parliament reconvenes, Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced on Saturday.

“Together with the Swedish Prime Minister, we have done important steps to restore confidence,” Orban said during an annual state of the nation address. “We are going in the direction that, at the start of parliament’s spring session, we can ratify Sweden’s accession to NATO.”

According to the Hungarian government’s website, the parliament reconvenes for its spring session on February 26.

Hungary is the last NATO member to approve Sweden’s accession to the military alliance.

Last June, Orban’s party Fidesz told CNN that it expected Sweden to “allay its concerns” before the vote on Sweden’s accession to NATO. In July, Fidesz told CNN that “Swedish government figures have regularly insulted Hungarian voters and Hungary as a whole.”

But in January, Orban said he told NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg he “reaffirmed that the Hungarian government supports the NATO membership of Sweden.”

Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership in May 2022, swiftly after Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine earlier that year. Finland joined NATO in April 2023 – doubling the alliance’s border with Russia – but Sweden’s bid was mired in challenges.

Orban, considered to be the European Union leader closest to Russian President Vladimir Putin, initially indicated he was not opposed to Sweden joining the bloc, before working to stall it. Katalin Cseh, a Hungarian Member of the European Parliament, said last year that Orban’s blocking of Sweden’s bid was “quite simply, another favor to Vladimir Putin.”

But following a decision by leaders in Turkey earlier this year to approve Sweden’s accession to the alliance, leaving Hungary as the only holdout, Orban took steps to allow the process to move forward.

Swedish PM looking forward to meeting Hungary's Orban as NATO ratification beckons

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk meets with his Swedish counterpart Ulf Kristersson in Warsaw.

Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on Monday that he looked forward to meeting his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban and to Sweden becoming member of NATO, following signals that the Hungary could ratify Sweden's application this month.

"We have had a few pieces of conversation this week," Kristersson told a joint news conference with his Polish counterpart during a visit to Warsaw. "I look forward to have the meeting and I look forward to Sweden's NATO accession."

Hungarian Prime Minister Orban said last week that the parliament can ratify Sweden's NATO membership when it convenes for its new spring session later this month, the only remaining parliament in the 31 member alliance to do so.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said it was "unacceptable" that Hungary blocked Sweden's bid and urged it to be swiftly ratified.

"It would be a mistake for one NATO country to block another country's entry into NATO," Tusk said. "Poland and I personally will be ready to give our full support in this matter."

Sweden applied to join NATO nearly two years ago in a historic shift in policy prompted by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Embattled Orbán addresses Hungary in first appearance since country's president quit in a scandal

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán sought to contain the political fallout of a presidential pardon scandal during an annual state of the nation address on Saturday, his first public appearance since Hungary's president, his ally, resigned a week ago.

The nationalist Orbán is under intense pressure from multiple angles as his obstructionist conduct on the international stage has spurred growing frustration among his European Union and NATO allies.

Meanwhile, widespread public outrage has gripped Hungary over a pardon the president issued to a convict in a child sexual abuse case.

In his speech, which marked the 25th anniversary of his first address to the nation during his freshman term as prime minister in 1999, Orbán immediately addressed the resignation last week of President Katalin Novák. He said that 2024 “could not have begun any worse” and that her resignation was a “nightmare” for the country.

International news organizations, including The Associated Press, and Hungary's independent media outlets were not permitted to attend the speech.

Orbán sought to mitigate outcry over the scandal that has shaken his nationalist Fidesz party in recent weeks, saying that Novák had made a responsible decision in stepping down.

Novák’s resignation was “correct, but a big loss for Hungary," he said. “What happened is what needed to happen in this situation. Good people also make bad decisions.”

Fissures have opened within Fidesz after it was revealed that Novák, a close Orbán ally, issued a presidential pardon to a man imprisoned for covering up a string of child sexual abuse by the director of a state-run orphanage.

The revelations have led to three resignations within Orbán’s inner circle — including former Justice Minister Judit Varga, who countersigned the pardon — and led to public outrage that culminated in tens of thousands of protesters gathering in Budapest on Friday to demand change.

Outside Hungary, Orbán has faced isolation over his obstruction of key decisions by his international allies. The long-serving leader has laid roadblocks to EU funding for cash-strapped Ukraine, and Hungary remains the only holdout among NATO's 31 members that has still not approved Sweden's entry into the military alliance.

A bipartisan delegation of U.S. lawmakers is set to visit Budapest on Sunday for a “mission focused on strategic issues confronting NATO and Hungary,” underscoring the growing impatience among Hungary's allies after 18 months of delays in ratifying Sweden's bid to join the alliance.

But on Saturday, Orbán indicated that a vote on the matter could happen when Hungary's legislature reconvenes on Feb. 26.

“It’s good news that our dispute with Sweden is nearing a conclusion,” he said. “We are moving towards ratifying Sweden’s accession to NATO at the beginning of the spring session of Parliament.”

As elections for the European Parliament approach this summer, Orbán has sought to unify the continent's right-wing forces that reject liberal democracy, immigration and LGBTQ+ rights.

“Never before has there been such a gap between the policy of Brussels and the interests and will of the people of Europe. There needs to be a change in Brussels,” he said. “This change does not happen by itself, you have to force it. Europe must take back Brussels.”

Orbán, a proponent of what he calls “illiberal democracy,” has openly endorsed Donald Trump in his likely run for the White House in November, and has suggested that Russia's war in Ukraine would not have started with Trump as president.

“We can’t get involved in another country’s elections, but we would really like President Donald Trump to return to the presidency and make peace here in the eastern half of Europe,” he said on Saturday.

As he referenced Hungary's approaching rotating presidency of the European Council, set to begin in July, Orbán borrowed from one of Trump's popular slogans to describe his plans for the role. “Make Europe great again!” he said. “MAGA there, MEGA here.”

China offers backing to Hungary in security matters, law enforcement

China has offered long-term support to Budapest in the security field, expanding mutual ties beyond economic cooperation, Reuters reported on Feb. 19 after Chinese Public Security Minister Wang Xiaohong's visit to Hungary.

Wang met Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban on Feb. 16 as the two countries aim to deepen their friendship and "strengthen communication and coordination in international and regional affairs," the Chinese state-owned news agency Xinhua said.

Under Orban, Hungary has been fostering close ties with authoritarian regimes like China or Russia, much to the dismay of its EU and NATO partners.

Wang reportedly said he hopes to open a new level of cooperation with the Central European country in areas such as combating terrorism and transnational crimes.

These efforts should also include security capacity building under China's Belt and Road Initiative, Reuters said.

During his stay in Hungary, Wang signed documents on law enforcement and security cooperation with Hungarian Interior Minister Sandor Pinter, according to Reuters.

A security pact between Hungary and China is likely to further strain Budapest's relationship with Western countries.

Orban has repeatedly undermined Western consensus on supporting Ukraine and countering Russia, delaying aid and sanctions. Hungary is also the last country that has not yet ratified Sweden's accession to NATO.

In turn, Russia has been building a tight partnership with China. While not providing direct military support, Beijing has continued deepening economic cooperation, refused to denounce Russia's aggression, and helped the country counter Western sanctions.