NATO: Approaching Hungary’s approval for Sweden and Finland

Stating that progress has been made regarding Hungary’s approval of Sweden’s and Finland’s NATO membership, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said: “We are getting closer to Hungary’s approval.”

Stoltenberg, who met with Albanian President Bajram Begay at the NATO headquarters, responded to a question about Hungary’s ratification process for Sweden’s and Finland’s NATO accession protocols, stating that the two countries’ membership in NATO is a priority for him.

Recalling that he and President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan agreed to restart talks between Turkey, Sweden and Finland last month, Stoltenberg said the meeting will take place in Brussels this week and will focus on the implementation of the tripartite memorandum signed in July. Stoltenberg said that he will visit Sweden today, a delegation from Hungary recently traveled to Sweden and prepared a report, and it is recommended to approve the accession protocols in this report.

“We still have a ways to go, but we are making progress,” Stoltenberg said, adding that Sweden and Finland are in the fastest accession process in NATO history. Recalling that Turkey and Hungary out of 30 member countries have yet to approve participation, Stoltenberg said: “The Hungarian parliament announced its approval plan at the end of this month. The Hungarian delegation in Sweden also gave a positive message. We are making progress and getting closer to approval from Hungary,” he said. (AA)