Hungarian President Novak called on country’s parliament to support NATO expansion
The Parliament of Hungary must ratify the applications of Sweden and Finland to join NATO.
This is stated in a Facebook post by the country's president, Katalin Novak, Censor.NET reports.
She notes that in the National Assembly of Hungary (Parliament. - Ed.) discussions have begun regarding the ratification of Sweden's and Finland's applications to join the North Atlantic Alliance (NATO).
Novak is convinced that the ratification of the application is not a "simple technical issue", but a complex decision with serious consequences, which "must be carefully considered".
"My position is clear: in the current situation, the accession of Sweden and Finland is justified. I believe that the National Assembly will make a wise decision as soon as possible!" Novak wrote.
It will be recalled that Sweden and Finland decided to join NATO after the start of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine in February 2022.
On June 29, 2022, at the summit in Madrid, NATO countries officially "invited" Finland and Sweden to become members of the Alliance.
In order for new countries to join the North Atlantic Alliance, the consent of all 30 member countries is required, as well as the ratification of this step by the parliaments of all NATO countries.
The applications of Sweden and Finland to join the North Atlantic Alliance were not ratified by the parliaments of only two countries - Turkey and Hungary.
On February 25, 2023, the chief of staff of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán announced that the vote on this issue could take place only in the second half of March.
For a long time, Turkey blocked the accession under the pretext of non-fulfillment of the requirements of the countries in the fight against terrorism, in particular, the restriction of the rights of Kurdish organizations and the extradition of some of their representatives.
On February 27, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu announced that his country will resume negotiations with Sweden and Finland on joining NATO, a new meeting will be held on March 9 in Brussels. At the same time, he warned that Turkey cannot agree to Sweden joining the Alliance until it fulfills its obligations in the field of "fighting terrorism".
