Republican senator blocks arms package to Hungary until Sweden joins NATO

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Hungary says they didn't want to buy HIMARS system in the first place

On Wednesday the Washington Post reported that Sen. James E. Risch is halting a $735 million U.S. arms sale to Hungary as consequence for the country’s refusal to approve Sweden's NATO membership.

“Hungary must allow Sweden into NATO if it wants the arms package, which includes 24 HIMAS rocker launcher batteries, and more than 100 rockets and pods along with associated parts and support,” Senator Risch said in a statement.“For some time now, I have directly expressed my concerns to the Hungarian government regarding its refusal to move forward a vote for Sweden to join NATO,”ha added.

The Ministry of Defence will not buy HIMARS missile systems, the ministry said in a statement. The Hungarian Ministry of Defence says that the government requested information on the missile system last year, but since they did not receive a reply from the US side, they considered the issue closed. "In the previous administration, the government's procurement commissioner sent a letter requesting information on the HIMARS missile systems with a March 2022 deadline. We haven't received a reply from the US side, so the ministry considered the matter closed. The MoD has no intention to purchase HIMARS missile systems".

Orban assures Trump of his support after indictment 

"Youe fight a good fight Donald Trump. Never give up", Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban tweeted right after the former US president has been charged with illegal retention of classified documents.

Donald Trump wrote on his social media site Truth Social that the government had notified his lawyers that he had been indicted. He was summoned to appear in federal court in Miami on 13 June.

"I am an innocent man," Trump wrote. He was already indicted in New York in early April in another case involving  hush money  (illegally bribing a porn actress to keep quiet about their affair) and falsification of business records. 

More that twenty percent of Hungarians support closer ties with Russia

During the past two years the number of Hungarians who prefer closer ties with Russia has doubled , according to a new survey by Policy Solutions. The research is focused on where Hungarian society sees the country's future in terms of values. The majority of them (55%) still believes  the countrybelongs to the West in terms and should continue to move closer to our Western allies. However one in five Fidesz-KDNP voters disagree with the Hungary's affiliation with the West.

Respondents across the political spectrum overwhelmingly said they would back staying in NATO in case of a referendum. The lowest support NATO was found  among the far-right Our Homeland party's supporters at 67%. Around 68% of respondents think that both Finland and Sweden belong in the NATO alliance. 26 percent believes it is in Hungary's interest to have closer involvement with Russia and move away from the European Union.

Hungary has the highest number of irregularities detected by OLAF 

EU's Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF)'s annual report revealed that Hungary tops the list of EU countries with the highest number financial irregularities where damage to the country's own resources is investigated. Between 2018-2022, Hungary had the highest number of irregularities detected by OLAF in European Structural and Investment Funds and Agricultural and Rural Development Funds. OLAF recommended to the European Commission to recover 11 million euros in funds.

Last year OLAF opened 15 investigations into suspected fraud in the country, and in ten of the cases, the office proposed some form of financial repercussion.