Sweden's foreign minister says there is no reason to negotiate with Hungary for a ratification of its NATO bid.
"I see no reason to negotiate at this point," Sweden's Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom told reporters after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban invited his Swedish counterpart to Hungary for talks.
Billstrom noted that Hungary, unlike Turkey, the other holdout on Sweden's NATO membership, did not present any conditions when Stockholm was invited to join at the 2022 NATO summit in Madrid.
Meanwhile, Turkish legislators endorsed Sweden’s membership in NATO on January 23, lifting a major hurdle on the previously nonaligned country’s entry into the military alliance.
The legislators ratified Sweden’s accession protocol 287 to 55 with four abstentions.
The ratification will come into effect after its publication in the Official Gazette, which is expected to be swift.
“Today we are one step closer to becoming a full member of NATO,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said on X, formerly Twitter.
The ratification leaves Hungary as the only NATO ally that has not approved Sweden’s accession.
