The long-awaited vote in Hungary on Sweden and Finland joining NATO has again been delayed by a proposal from a senior government official.
In a letter published Tuesday by the Hungarian news site HJV.org, Deputy Prime Minister Salt Simien asked for a postponement of the parliamentary session, which was due to begin on March 20.
Lawmakers were expected to vote on whether the two Scandinavian countries should join a military alliance for the week.
As a reason for the delay, he cited ongoing negotiations between Hungary and the European Commission over alleged rule of law violations by Budapest.
The Speaker of Parliament, who is a member of the ruling coalition, must approve the request for a delay.
Hungary remains the only NATO country other than Turkey that has yet to agree to the two Nordic countries joining NATO, the second delay in two weeks.
Source: AB