Republican Senator James E. Resch, a member of the Committee on Foreign Relations, signed a $735 million US arms deal with Hungary over its refusal to accept Sweden’s NATO membership.
Resch said in a statement that “Hungary should allow Sweden to join NATO if it wants a weapons package that includes 24 batteries of HIMARS missile launchers, more than 100 missiles in addition to spare parts”, noting that “not so long ago she explicitly expressed I expressed concern to the Hungarian government about its refusal to continue voting on Sweden’s accession to NATO.
He added: “The fact is that it’s June and the case is not yet completed, I decided to suspend the sale of new US military equipment to Hungary.”
All major arms sales require the approval of the chairman and members of the Senate and House foreign affairs committees before the State Department can publicly confirm the sale.
The Feather interception prevents the State Department from proceeding with the sale.
A State Department spokesman declined to comment, saying the department does not comment on “pending arms sales.”
The Risch maneuver came when NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visited the White House on Tuesday to agree on strategies for this summer’s NATO summit in Lithuania, where US President Joe Biden and Stoltenberg hope to announce progress on Sweden’s bid to join the alliance.
Source: Washington Post.