Germany urges Orbán to ‘very quickly’ ratify Sweden’s NATO bid

BERLIN — Germany is piling pressure on Viktor Orbán to speed up approval of Sweden's NATO membership bid after the Hungarian leader's ruling Fidesz party held up ratification on Monday.

"We believe that it is now a matter of loyalty to the alliance and, more generally, of friendly behavior between EU states that this should happen very quickly," a senior German official told reporters in Berlin on Tuesday.

Hungary is the only NATO member that hasn't yet approved Sweden's bid to join the military alliance.

After months of delay, Orbán officially backed Sweden's candidacy in January, but it still needs to be validated by the Hungarian parliament.

The parliamentary vote should be a formality, as Orbán's ruling Fidesz party holds a comfortable majority.

But Fidesz leaders on Monday demanded that Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson first visit Budapest before the parliamentary vote.

Kristersson has ruled out further negotiations with Budapest on Sweden's bid, but has said he would be open to meeting Orbán after Hungary's parliament ratifies the application.

"Such visits between EU partners are quite normal, but they should not be linked in this way," the same German official said.