Hungary set to approve Finland, Sweden NATO membership early next year

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said that his country's parliament would approve Finland and Sweden's accession to NATO next year, with only Budapest's and Ankara's green-light still missing for their application.

"As we have already informed Sweden and Finland, Hungary supports the NATO membership of these two countries. It will be on the agenda of the first session of parliament" next year, Mr. Orban told reporters after meeting regional counterparts in Slovakia, according to Le Monde.

The first session next year is scheduled to begin in February.

All 30 NATO member states except Hungary and Türkiye have ratified the accession of Sweden and Finland, which dropped decades of military non-alignment with bids to join NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine in February. New members of the NATO alliance require unanimous approval by all member states, with only two votes currently missing.