Hungary has become the most unreliable NATO member due to the actions of its government, so sanctions should be imposed against it. This was stated by Chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee Ben Cardin.
Source. Bloomberg reports.
Cardin condemned Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban's attempts to delay the discussion of EU financial assistance to Ukraine worth 50 billion euros and protests against Sweden's accession to NATO.
He said that the White House should extend the Magnitsky Act to Orban and consider excluding Hungary from the US visa waiver program.
Two other senators, Democrat Gene Shaheen and Republican Tom Tillis, said that Orban risks "irreversibly damaging" Hungary's relations with the United States and NATO if he does not decide on Sweden's accession to the military alliance.
The Hungarian prime minister regularly criticizes U.S. policy toward the EU, speaking of Washington's excessive influence on the European bloc.
"I often have the feeling that they are following American interests rather than European interests with some decisions," he added, referring to Hungary's EU partners.
Orbán confirmed that the Hungarian parliament will begin ratifying Sweden's NATO membership, but he would like to first get Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson's approval in Budapest. The two leaders met on the sidelines of the EU summit in Brussels, where the Scandinavian prime minister declined the invitation, saying he would travel after Hungary ratified the decision.