The US is disappointed Hungary’s ratification of Sweden joining Nato is taking so long, Washington’s ambassador has said, saying that Budapest is “really alone” and that the Hungarian government is pursuing a “foreign fantasy” instead of foreign policy.
After months of delays, Turkey’s parliament approved Sweden’s Nato membership this week. The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, signed it off on Thursday, leaving Hungary as the only country in the 31-member western military alliance that has yet to ratify the Swedish bid.
While the Hungarian government formally supports Sweden’s accession, the country’s parliament has avoided voting on the matter, fuelling frustration among Nato allies and raising questions about the motivations of Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán.
The Hungarian leader routinely criticises his western allies and has been nurturing relationships with Moscow and Beijing.
In an interview at the US embassy in Budapest on Thursday afternoon, the US ambassador, David Pressman, said: “An alliance is only as strong as the commitments that we make to each other and the commitments that we keep.
“I think that it’s important that the Hungarian government live up to its commitment, and its commitment has been that it will not be the last ally to ratify Sweden’s accession.”
He added: “Keeping your word is obviously an important element of trust in any relationship.”
Domestically, senior Hungarian politicians have argued that Sweden’s bid has not been put to a parliamentary vote because the country has been critical of the state of Hungarian democracy. Nevertheless, diplomats familiar with the Nato application process say Hungary never formally raised any objections to Swedish membership.
This week, Orbán sent a letter to his Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson, inviting him for discussions, a proposal Sweden’s prime minister has accepted while indicating he will not be negotiating over the country’s Nato membership.
Asked whether Hungary had presented any demands, Pressman said: “The United States is unaware of what is causing the delay by the Hungarian government.”
He was blunt about Washington’s position, saying: “We’re disappointed that this has taken so long. And we look forward to Hungary living up to the commitment it’s made to the United States and to its other allies.”
The ambassador also underscored Budapest’s deepening diplomatic isolation, beyond the issue of Sweden’s Nato accession.
“Hungary is really alone – and it doesn’t need to be,” he said, citing Hungarian government decisions such as blocking EU financing for Ukraine, holding talks with Vladimir Putin and resisting efforts to diversify away from Russian energy as “worrying signs”.
While Hungary is formally an ally of the US, Orbán has listed the US president, Joe Biden, as one of his opponents and senior Hungarian officials have accused Washington of meddling in Hungarian politics. Government-controlled media routinely run anti-American content, including conspiracy theories about US foreign policy.
“The bilateral relationship between the US and Hungary is extremely difficult,” the ambassador said.
Pressman also described the Hungarian government’s foreign policy as a “fantasy”.
“The Hungarians have this idea that it’s a political communications device where they’re constantly talking about imperialists and colonialists and Brussels and George Soros – and all of these entities who are trying to ‘interfere’ in its domestic politics – and it’s really a fantasy,” he said. “And it’s a fantasy that is serving some political purpose in this country, but is also distracting from some of the real challenges and opportunities that Hungary has.
“And part of that fantasy involves waiting out other governments – so whether it’s wishing to see a different leadership in the European Commission or different leadership in the United States of America or different leaders in any country around Europe. It’s not a foreign policy, it’s a foreign fantasy,” he added.
The ambassador emphasised that he believed Hungary’s attempt to wait for other governments to change meant it was not addressing today’s issues.
“I think everyone would be well-served getting out of the rhetorical and into the more pragmatic,” he said.
The ambassador, a human rights lawyer, also expressed concern about the state of Hungarian democracy.
“I have seen firsthand the intense effort to intimidate judges in this country,” he said.
Speaking of Hungary’s new sovereignty protection office, which has broad powers to investigate Hungarians with no judicial oversight, Pressman said it represented “a serious step backwards in Hungary’s democracy”.
Pressman, a high-profile diplomat who arrived in Budapest in 2022, is criticised almost daily in government-controlled Hungarian media outlets, to the point that Hungary’s main pro-government daily keeps a link to his name at the top of its site, with more than 200 articles tagged.
Asked if he was bothered by the attention, Pressman said no but added that “what bothers me is that the state of the US-Hungary relationship is in the place that it is”.
“What we really need to do at this moment in this relationship is work on it – and certainly the United States is prepared to do that. But I can tell you, there’s no indication that the Hungarian government is interested in doing that – and that’s unfortunate,” he said.
