Swedish PM to visit Hungary before ratification of NATO bid

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.