The Hungarian parliament finally approved Finland’s bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, reported Mandiner. Sweden’s membership, however, continues to be subject to negotiations.
The parliament voted on the ratification of Finland’s membership on Monday, March 27th, with 182 MPs supporting the notion, while only 6 voting against it, with no abstentions. According to Balázs Orbán, the political director of the prime minister’s office, there was no question that the proposal would pass since the two countries share “a special historical friendship and alliance.”
As soon as the news broke, Finnish politicians took to social media to celebrate this newest step toward full Atlantic integration. “Thank you for a decision with clear figures,” wrote Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin on Twitter, reflecting on the overwhelming support of the Hungarian parliament, while Finland’s defense minister Antti Kaikonen said it was “good and expected news.”
Just days before, Ankara also made a significant step toward recognizing Helsinki’s NATO bid. On Thursday, March 23rd, the Turkish parliament’s foreign affairs commission approved the bill ratifying Finland’s NATO accession, which now only needs to be approved by the general assembly, which is expected to happen by mid-April, before the parliament closes ahead of the Turkish elections on May 14th.
Regarding Sweden’s membership, the issue is slightly more complicated. Even though the Hungarian government already agreed to ratify Stockholm’s bid as well, it chose to delay the vote in the general assembly again. According to Balázs Orbán, the reason for this is that certain MPs continue to raise objections over Sweden’s past involvement in Brussels’ rule of law debate with Hungary.
“Hungary does not take a position on Swedish domestic politics, and expects the same from them on Hungarian issues,” Orbán said, adding that Budapest needs reassurance from Stockholm that there would be no more political dispute between the two countries, something that Helsinki was ready to promise.
However, the Hungarian government is confident that Sweden’s accession will be approved soon enough as well.
“Supporting [Finland and Sweden] is not a favor but an obligation to the alliance,” Zsolt Németh, a founding member of the ruling Fidesz party said earlier, while also noting that “the ratification process is an excellent opportunity for governments to talk to their partners and clear up misunderstandings, accusations and lies in the eyes of each other.”
Regardless, Budapest is not the only obstacle before Sweden’s NATO accession. Turkey also needs to ratify the bid, but it will hardly happen before May’s general election, something President Erdoğan was quite clear on following a Quran-burning protest in the Swedish capital and Stockholm’s continuous refusal to extradite some 120 people belonging to Kurdish groups that Ankara considers terrorists.
