The United States blocks the sale of arms to Hungary

Hungary military Ukraine weapons
Photo: facebook.com/magyarhonvedseg

The move is aimed at putting pressure on Hungary regarding the expansion of the alliance ahead of next month’s summit.

The relationship between the United States and Hungary is becoming increasingly combative, napi.hu reports. So much so, that Senator James E. Risch, the ranking Republican member of the Foreign Relations Committee, is stopping the USD 735 million US arms sale to Hungary for not contributing to Sweden’s membership of NATO.

Risch told The Washington Post that “Hungary must allow Sweden into NATO if it wants the arms package, which includes 24 HIMARS rocket launcher batteries, and more than 100 rockets and pods along with associated parts and support.”

The decision to curb new arms sales from Budapest shows the growing anger of NATO supporters such as Risch towards Hungary, the paper adds.

“The fact that it is now June and still not done, I decided that the sale of new U.S. military equipment to Hungary will be on hold,” said Risch, whose objection prevents the Foreign Ministry from moving forward with the sales process.

A spokesman for the US State Department declined to comment, as did a spokesman for the Hungarian government.

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