To inspire confidence, a defensive military alliance requires the shared confidence of its members that, if one member is attacked, the other members will give it decisive support. Whatever other interests they may have with the United States and its NATO allies, it is clear that Turkey and Hungary cannot meet this expectation. Both countries should be excluded from the alliance, Tom Rogan wrote in his article for the Washington Examiner.

Although any suspension (of membership) would involve legal difficulties, it is possible. Moreover, action on suspension could itself cause significant changes in Turkish and Hungarian politics.

The most immediate reason for Turkey's suspension is that it prevents Finland and Sweden from joining NATO. Turkey suspended the relevant negotiations in response to Swedish protests in which a Koran and an effigy of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan were burned.

The most immediate reason for Hungary's suspension is its Prime Minister Viktor Orban's low-handedness toward Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Thanks to its position at the Mediterranean entrance to the Black Sea and its proximity to the energy reserves of the Middle East, Turkey has long been a key NATO ally. As in the case of Hungary, Turkey will hopefully one day regain NATO's trust. Nevertheless, an examination of the NATO treaty shows where both countries are in breach of their obligations.

According to Article 2 of the treaty, a party pledges to contribute to the further development of peaceful and friendly international relations by strengthening its free institutions.

Neither Orban nor Erdoğan strengthen their free institutions. On the contrary, both leaders have expanded the dominance of state media. Both have cracked down on dissenting minorities, politicians and activists, and non-governmental organizations. Erdoğan has jailed hundreds of journalists, some simply for insulting him.

Article 3 commits the member to maintain and develop his individual and collective capacity to resist armed attack.

Erdogan violated this obligation by buying Russia's S-400 air defense system, which is specifically designed to destroy NATO's air force. In doing so, Erdoğan weakened NATO's credibility and endangered its crews.

Orban violated this commitment by undermining European sanctions imposed on Russia.

Under Article 8, the member undertakes not to enter into any international obligations contrary to this Treaty.

Turkey broke this promise with the aforementioned purchase of S-400 and Erdogan's demand that Sweden abandon its free speech laws and extradite people without due process of law. Equally noteworthy are Erdogan's threats against another NATO member Greece, his wars of invasion in Syria and his military support for Azerbaijan against Armenia. Turkey has legitimate grievances against Kurdish terrorist groups in Iraq and Syria. But Erdogan's fetish for indiscriminate bombings is unacceptable.

An alliance has no value if its members do not maintain common trust. Under Orban and Erdogan, Hungary and Turkey can no longer enjoy such trust within NATO. Until that changes, they should be excluded from this alliance, in which they now do more harm than good.