Hungarian opposition parties submitted a motion yesterday, calling for an extraordinary session of parliament on 5th February to ratify Sweden's application to join NATO. Hungary is the only country in the 31-member Atlantic alliance yet to ratify Sweden's application. Sweden's NATO entry bid has been stranded in the Hungarian legislature since mid-2022 despite repeated pledges by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to support it.<br />''<br />''Turkey completed its approval last week, some 20 months after Stockholm applied to join NATO following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Hungarian PM Orban, who has friendly relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin despite Moscow's war in Ukraine, said last week he would urge lawmakers to approve Sweden's accession at the first possible opportunity. But parliamentary speaker Laszlo Kover said there was no urgency for any extraordinary move to ratify Sweden's NATO accession and suggested that opposition attempts at an extra session would be likely to fail. Hungary's parliament is not currently in session, but NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said last Friday he expected the assembly to ratify Sweden's accession at the end of February after it reconvenes. He has urged the Hungarian PM  to ratify Sweden's NATO accession. Hungarian government ministers have repeatedly blamed the delays on grievances about Sweden's bid among ruling party lawmakers. <br />