A NATO diplomat said there have been “serious concerns” owing to Hungary’s latest actions and rhetoric.
Wednesday’s meeting “would have been a useful opportunity for Hungary to explain itself to its allies, but they were absent from the discussion,” the diplomat said.
Earlier this year, Orbán secured a unique opt-out for Hungary not to participate in NATO’s mission to provide Ukraine with military aid and training. Budapest also delayed Sweden’s bid to join the alliance last year, and spent months stalling Mark Rutte’s application to become the NATO chief.
Another NATO official, however, highlighted Budapest’s continued role in supporting NATO activities — while conceding its political divergence from mainstream views in the alliance.
On the operational side, the official stressed, Hungary plays a part in NATO’s mission in Kosovo. Hungary also hosts a sizable NATO command.
Hungary’s status as a questionable ally marks a sea change for the country. When it joined NATO in 1999, alongside Poland and the Czech Republic, memories of their decades as Soviet satellites was still fresh. All three had lobbied fiercely to be admitted to the alliance, and were allowed to join despite some misgivings in Washington and in Western European capitals.
Hungary’s accession was signed by Orbán, who in a speech marking the ceremony denounced the “unnatural relationship” that had made his country dependent on Moscow, and celebrated the “occupying power” pulling its troops out of Hungary in 1991.
“All of us can feel, most directly, the genuine security that NATO membership means,” he said at the time.
