US lawmakers urge Hungarian leader to immediately approve Sweden’s NATO membership

( ) -q-30- UNDATED (Correspondent Jeremy House) “vote on ratification.”

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers is urging Hungary to immediately ratify Sweden’s application to join NATO.

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TAG: Correspondent Jeremy House reporting. Shaheen and Tillis also said that continuing to hold up the process would harm Budapest’s relations with its allies. Senator Ben Cardin of Maryland in a separate statement, called Orbán “the least reliable member of NATO.”

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VERBATIM: Senators Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire and Thom Tillis of North Carolina released a joint statement calling on Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to advance Sweden’s bid without delay. The lawmakers say that patience with the Central European country is “wearing thin.” Hungary is the only country in the 31-nation military alliance that hasn’t yet backed Sweden’s membership bid. Frustration has mounted within NATO as Budapest has repeatedly pushed back a vote on ratification.