Budapest (Hungary), Jun 28 (AP) Hungary's parliament postponed ratifying Sweden's NATO accession bid on Wednesday to its autumn legislative session.

The postponement, the latest in a long succession of delays that have gone on for a year, all but guarantees that the Nordic nation will not join the Western military alliance ahead of, or during, the NATO summit in July.

Also Read | US: 41% Adults Approve of Joe Biden; Here's What a New Poll Tells About the President.

In a Facebook post on Wednesday, Agnes Vadai, a lawmaker with Hungary's opposition Democratic Coalition party, wrote that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and his governing Fidesz party would not schedule a vote on Sweden's accession during its final spring session next week.

Another lawmaker from the Democratic Coalition also confirmed that the vote would be delayed.

Also Read | Search for the UFOs: Strange Ocean Floor Objects Could Be UFO Crash Debris, Suggests Harvard Professor.

Hungary remains the only NATO member country, besides Turkiye, that hasn't yet approved Sweden's bid to join the alliance.

The Nordic nation, along with neighbouring Finland, dropped its longstanding military neutrality after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, and quickly signalled its intention to join NATO.

High-ranking Hungarian officials say they support Sweden's membership bid while also making vague demands from Stockholm as conditions for approval.

In March, Hungary sent a delegation to Sweden and Finland to resolve “political disputes” that had raised doubts among some Fidesz lawmakers about whether to support their NATO applications.

Orban's government has alleged that Swedish politicians have told “blatant lies” about the condition of Hungary's democracy, which he said left some lawmakers unsure of whether to support the accession bid

Fidesz earlier also caused multiple delays in ratifying Finland's NATO bid but swiftly passed the measure in March once Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan indicated that his government would move forward on the ratification.

The uncertainty over Sweden's bid is amplified by Turkiye's own objections amid accusations that Stockholm is too soft on groups that Ankara deems to be terror organisations.

Erdogan this month said that NATO should not bet on his country approving Sweden's application to join before the July 11-12 summit in Vilnius, Lithuania because the Nordic nation has not fully addressed his security concerns.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday that he would call an urgent meeting in the coming days to try to overcome Turkish objections to Sweden joining the military organisation — a last-ditch effort to have the Nordic country standing alongside the allies at the Vilnius summit next month. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)