Finland and Sweden expect Turkey and Hungary to join NATO “sooner or later”

The leaders of Finland and Sweden have expressed their hopes that Turkey and Hungary will ratify their NATO membership applications “sooner or later”.

During a joint press conference in Helsinki, Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin said she had a phone call with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg on Tuesday to discuss “the ratification of our membership application”.

“Our eyes are now on Hungary and of course Turkey and we are waiting for these countries to ratify our requests. I think it would be very important for that to happen, preferably sooner rather than later,” Marin said.

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Sweden and Finland signed a memorandum with Turkey in June pledging to address Turkey’s security concerns around terrorism and arms exports after Ankara objected to its initial offer to join the alliance.

Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels on October 26 that Hungary had “made it clear” that it would ratify the accession protocol soon, allowing the two countries to become full members of the alliance.

Marin’s Swedish counterpart, Ulf Kristersson, emphasized the “swift” nature of the ratification process, highlighting the fact that 28 out of 30 alliance members have already ratified their requests.

“We fully respect that each alliance country makes its own decision. I got a call [do presidente turco Recep Tayyip] Erdogan the other day and we agreed for me to come to Ankara, and I will communicate the exact date when it is formally confirmed,” Kristersson added.

Sweden and Finland announced their intention to join NATO in May after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused a sudden shift in attitudes towards joining the bloc.