Global Courant
By Patricia Zengerle
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The top Republican on the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee said on Wednesday he was blocking a $735 million arms sale to Hungary because the government refused to approve Sweden’s bid to join NATO.
“In view of the promises made to me and others last year that this vote would take place, and the fact that it is now June and still has not been done, I have decided that sales of new US military equipment to Hungary will be suspended .” Senator Jim Risch said in a statement.
“Hungary must take the necessary measures to allow Sweden to join the alliance, and quickly,” he said.
Under U.S. law, major arms deals are reviewed by the top Democrats and Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs.
They regularly ask questions or have concerns about human rights or diplomatic issues that could slow or halt arms sales.
Risch’s decision to block the deal was first reported in the Washington Post, which said the sale included 24 HIMARS missile launcher batteries and more than 100 missiles and pods, along with associated parts and support.
The Hungarian Ministry of Defense issued a statement through the state news agency MTI saying that it does not intend to purchase HIMARS systems.
“During the previous administration, the government commissioner in charge of procurement requested information on HIMARS missile systems in a letter with a deadline of March 2022. There was no response from the US side, therefore the ministry considered the case closed,” said Hungary. . .
Sweden applied to join NATO last year as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Objections from Turkey and Hungary have delayed the bid and Sweden now hopes to join a NATO summit in Lithuania next month.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met US President Joe Biden at the White House on Tuesday.
(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, additional reporting by Gergely Szakacs in Budapest; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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