Hungary described Sweden’s attitude as “stupid” on Tuesday after a far-right activist burned a copy of the Koran in Stockholm, an incident that prompted Ankara to block the Scandinavian country’s NATO membership.

The desecration of a religious book is “unacceptable”, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto responded during a press conference in Budapest together with his Turkish counterpart Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu.

And insisting on freedom of expression, as Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson did, to justify allowing the demonstration is “stupid”, he said.

“If a country wants to join NATO and is trying to get Turkey’s support, it should probably be a little more careful,” the Hungarian official said.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden submitted a joint candidacy to join the North Atlantic Alliance, abandoning decades of military non-alignment.

This document, which must be adopted unanimously by the 30 NATO member states, has been ratified by all except Turkey and Hungary.

Sweden, already accused of harboring Kurdish “terrorists”, is at an impasse to get the green light from Ankara after a series of anti-Turkish demonstrations in Stockholm and the burning of Korans.

For its part, Budapest says it has “no objection” to the two countries joining.

“We have a clear position,” Sijarto stressed. “We support NATO expansion, and when the parliament reconvenes in February, this issue will be on the agenda and we will resolve it quickly,” he promised.

The deadline has been pushed back several times due to legislative deadlock, and the opposition accuses the government of delaying it.

Nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, an ally of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, also maintains an ambiguous position regarding the war in Ukraine.

If he condemned the Russian offensive, he only half-heartedly supports Kyiv, unlike its EU partners, and continues to maintain close energy ties with Moscow.

(source: Agerpres)