Hungary is postponing the ratification of Sweden’s NATO membership due to Stockholm’s criticism of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s policies, a Hungarian government spokesman said on Wednesday.

“Bridging the gap will require efforts on both sides,” Zoltan Kovacs, a spokesman for the prime minister, said.

Sweden and its neighbor Finland applied to join the NATO military alliance last year after Russia invaded Ukraine. But the process is blocked by Hungary and Türkiye.

After months of obstruction by Orban’s ruling Fidesz party, Hungary’s parliament on Monday approved a bill allowing Finland to join NATO, but not Sweden.

“In the case of Sweden, there are grievances that need to be resolved before the country’s membership can be ratified,” Kovacs wrote on his blog.

The Swedes “repeatedly wanted to strike at Hungary through diplomatic means, using their political influence to harm Hungarian interests,” he said, referring to the Orbán government’s criticism of undermining the rule of law over the past 13 years.

“Adding in Ankara’s complaints, it doesn’t leave us much wiggle room, at least until the Swedes start changing their stance and help heal these lingering wounds,” Kovacs said.

A senior parliamentary official from Orbán’s Fidesz party, during a visit to Sweden in early March, urged Swedish politicians to stop “lying” about violations of the rule of law in Hungary in Budapest’s long-contested case with the European Union.

Source: Reuters.