Expansion of alliance should be approved in Budapest by mid-December, Orbán’s chief of staff says.
Hungary’s government supports the NATO membership of Sweden and Finland and has submitted the ratification documents to the National Assembly, Minister Gergely Gulyás told reporters at a briefing on Saturday.
Gulyás, chief of staff to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, said the expansion of NATO to include the two Nordic countries would be ratified by mid-December at the latest, according to media reports.
Asked by a reporter if NATO would be getting stronger with Finland and Sweden joining, Gulyás replied that he hoped so. He added that it could be debated whether the expansion is in Hungary’s national security interest, but said that this is irrelevant now, according to the reports.
Hungary and Turkey are the only NATO countries that have yet to ratify the accession of Sweden and Finland to the alliance — a process that started shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin told POLITICO on Thursday that she doesn’t expect Hungary and Turkey to block NATO expansion, but warned of the risks of delaying accession.
Gulyás, chief of staff to Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, said the expansion of NATO to include the two Nordic countries would be ratified by mid-December at the latest, according to media reports.
Asked by a reporter if NATO would be getting stronger with Finland and Sweden joining, Gulyás replied that he hoped so. He added that it could be debated whether the expansion is in Hungary’s national security interest, but said that this is irrelevant now, according to the reports.
Hungary and Turkey are the only NATO countries that have yet to ratify the accession of Sweden and Finland to the alliance — a process that started shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine in February.
Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin told POLITICO on Thursday that she doesn’t expect Hungary and Turkey to block NATO expansion, but warned of the risks of delaying accession.