Hungary To Ratify Finland, Sweden's NATO Accession Ahead Of Turkey - Authorities

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Hungary to Ratify Finland, Sweden's NATO Accession Ahead of Turkey - Authorities

BUDAPEST (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th November, 2022) Hungary will ratify Finland and Sweden's NATO accession protocols before Turkey despite a delay caused by the need to consider more pressing domestic issues, Gergely Gulyas, the head of the Hungarian prime minister's office, said on Wednesday.

Turkey and Hungary remain the only NATO members that have not ratified the accession protocols for Finland and Sweden. The Hungarian parliament has already twice refused to include the issue on the agenda of the government talks, citing the need to focus on ensuring Hungary's economic stability and passing laws to access EU funds. Nevertheless, according to Gulyas, Budapest is expected to ratify the protocols during the autumn session, before mid-December.

"We will not be the last to ratify Finland and Sweden's membership in NATO.

We will be faster than Turkey," Gulyas told a government briefing.

In mid-May, three months since the onset of the Ukraine crisis, Finland and Sweden submitted their NATO membership applications, abandoning decades of neutrality. Turkey initially blocked their applications, citing Helsinki and Stockholm's support of organizations which Ankara considers terrorist, particularly the Kurdistan Workers' Party.

However, on June 28, Turkey, Sweden and Finland signed a security memorandum that unblocked the process of accession of the two Nordic countries to the alliance. Ankara has said the memorandum addressed its concerns, but has been still slow in ratifying the accession protocols.