Hungary’s President Katalin Novak this Wednesday urged delegates to ratify Sweden’s and Finland’s NATO accession agreement “as soon as possible”, given the current context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
At a time when the Hungarian parliament is considering several motions on the deal and after months of bills to unblock the approval, the president admitted that it is “a complex decision with dire consequences that must be carefully considered”.
However, Katalin Novak stressed that her position in favor of accession is clear.
“In the current context, these countries’ access to [à Organização do Tratado do Atlântico Norte – NATO]. I trust that the National Assembly and its decision-making capacity will approve this measure as soon as possible,” he said in a message published on the social network Facebook.
Hungary and Turkey are the only members of the Atlantic Alliance that have not yet ratified the accession of the two Nordic countries. Their application for membership was made after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a country bordering Finland.
Hungarian authorities have repeatedly postponed the vote, claiming that the government “does not want to put pressure on Ankara”, which has stalled negotiations over disagreements with Sweden.
Turkey has indicated on several occasions that it is not opposed to Finland’s accession to the Alliance, but accuses Sweden, among other things, of not extraditing those accused of membership of Kurdish organizations that have been declared terrorist groups by the Turkish authorities.
The other member states signed the agreement for the accession of Sweden and Finland on 5 July 2022.
The accession process is complete when all states ratify the protocol.
Source: DN
