NATO: Hungarian Parliament ratifies Finland's membership

Hungary’s parliament has approved Finland’s bid to join NATO.

The measure, passed with 182 votes for and six against, came after Hungary’s government had for months frustrated allies in NATO and the European Union by repeatedly postponing the vote after nearly all other alliance members ratified Finland’s bid.

While Hungary’s approval was greeted with relief in Helsinki and elsewhere, NATO accession for Sweden remained up in the air as members of Hungary’s governing party insisted they will wait for Stockholm to clear up lingering disagreements before they go to a vote. Finland and Sweden jointly applied for membership following Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Adding to the uncertainty over Sweden’s bid are Turkey’s own objections, amid accusations that Stockholm is too soft on groups that it deems to be terror organizations.

Agnes Vadai, a lawmaker with Hungary’s opposition Democratic Coalition party, said Monday that the governing Fidesz party had been using “pretexts” to delay ratification for the two countries, and that further stalling could push a vote into early April or even May.

“There is no real reason for not supporting these countries,” Vadai, a former secretary of state in Hungary’s ministry of defense, told The Associated Press. “NATO accession shouldn’t be a question of personal feelings and blackmailing.”

Turkey is now the only one of the 30 NATO members not to have ratified Finland’s accession. Full unanimity is required to admit a new member into the alliance.

However, Turkey’s parliamentary committee on foreign affairs last week approved Finland’s NATO membership application, and a vote on accession is expected to be held before Turkey’s presidential and parliamentary elections on May 14.

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