FILE PHOTO: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban delivers his annual State of the Nation speech, in Budapest, Hungary, February 17, 2024. Szilard Koszticsak/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
BUDAPEST (Reuters) -Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson will travel to Budapest on Friday to meet Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban before Hungary's parliament takes a long-delayed vote on Sweden's bid for NATO membership next Monday.
Sweden applied to join the transatlantic alliance nearly two years ago in a historic policy shift away from non-alignment prompted by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Hungary is the only NATO member that has yet to ratify the Nordic country's accession, with Orban's nationalist party repeatedly delaying a vote, citing grievances over Sweden criticising Hungary over its record on rule-of-law standards.
Orban said on Tuesday that it would be a "pleasure" to welcome Kristersson in Budapest.
"We are planning to discuss how to strengthen the defence and security policy cooperation between Hungary and Sweden, as well as our plans for the Hungarian presidency of the Council of the European Union, and the EU’s Strategic Agenda," Orban said in a post on X.
Orban's Fidesz party proposed earlier on Tuesday that parliament should vote to ratify Sweden's bid to join NATO on Feb. 26, a move that it would support.
Fidesz commands a huge majority in parliament and it could have approved the Nordic country's membership at any time since the relevant legislation was submitted to lawmakers in mid-2022.
The delay has soured Budapest's relations with the United States and raised concerns among allies.
Kristersson's visit on Feb. 23 follows an invitation by Orban, and the two plan to hold a joint press conference, according to the Swedish government.
Hungary leases Gripen fighter aircraft made by Sweden's SAAB under a contract signed in 2001.
Local news site Index.hu reported this week, citing unnamed sources, that a new defence deal could be signed between Sweden and Budapest. A Hungarian government spokesman has not replied to emailed Reuters questions.
Kristersson told a press conference in Stockholm that Sweden wants to further develop its Gripen cooperation with Hungary, and that the topic would be on the agenda for Friday.
(Reporting by Boldizsar Gyori and Krisztina Than; Additional reporting by Anna Ringstrom in Stockholm; editing by Mark Heinrich)
