Hungary says Sweden should 'act differently' if it wants to join NATO

Sweden's government should "act differently" if it wants to clinch Turkish support for its bid to join NATO, Hungary's foreign minister said Tuesday, adding that a recent Quran-burning protest outside the Turkish embassy in Stockholm was "unacceptable."

Peter Szijjarto made the remark at a news conference following talks with his Turkish counterpart  in Hungary’s capital Budapest. Both diplomats addressed the 21 January anti-Turkish protest that increased tensions between Ankara and Stockholm as Sweden seeks Turkey’s approval to join the NATO military alliance.

"As a Christian and as a Catholic, I must say that burning of a holy book of another religion is an unacceptable act," Szijjarto said, and criticised a statement by Sweden's prime minister that while the burning of the Quran was inappropriate and "deeply disrespectful," it fell under Swedish freedom of speech protections.

"Stating that the burning of a sacred book is part of freedom of speech is just plain stupidity," Szijjarto said, adding that “perhaps they (Sweden) should act differently than that" if they want to secure Ankara's backing.

The meeting in Budapest came as Turkey and Hungary remain the only two NATO members that haven't approved bids by Sweden and Finland to join the military alliance. 

The northern European neighbours -- Finland has the EU's longest border with Russia -- have been closely aligned with NATO for decades but only applied for full membership after Moscow invaded Ukraine. 

The unanimous approval and treaty ratification of all 30 NATO countries is necessary to admit new members. 

Cavusoglu said Turkey shares Hungary's wish for NATO enlargement, but that it was now "impossible for us to confirm (Sweden’s) accession" into the alliance. He