After months of delay, Hungary’s parliament began ratifying Finland and Sweden’s NATO accession on Wednesday, with the president and a senior official urging legislators to support enlargement.
After Moscow invaded Ukraine, Sweden, and Finland requested to join the transatlantic defense agreement last year. However, all 30 NATO nations must approve the applications, and Turkey has criticized Sweden for harboring terrorists.
On Monday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said NATO membership negotiations with Sweden and Finland would restart on March 9, even though Sweden has not completed its duties under a memorandum inked last year.
Last Friday, populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban raised worries about Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership for the first time, with Hungary’s ratification in parliament since July.
He has called both nations “outright liars” regarding Hungary’s democracy and the rule of law.
Hungarian President Katalin Novak and a Foreign Ministry official pushed MPs to accept Finland and Sweden’s NATO membership “as soon as feasible” during Wednesday’s general discussion.
With a final vote likely in the second part of March, around 10% of Hungary’s 199 legislators attended the opening discussion.
“The extension of NATO to Finland and Sweden is a big step toward strengthening the euroatlantic zone,” Foreign Ministry State Secretary Peter Sztaray told a practically empty parliament.
Sztaray said the countries seeking NATO membership satisfy all requirements. “NATO strengthens Finland and Sweden’s foreign policy, security, and economic interests.”
On Friday, nationalist Orban said parliamentary factions required additional negotiations before voting on membership requests.
On Tuesday, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto said Hungary would send a parliamentary delegation to Finland around March 9 to discuss NATO membership.
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