Finland Urges Turkey, Hungary To Swiftly Approve Swedish, Finnish NATO Bids

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin (file photo)

Finland's Prime Minister Sanna Marin on November 1 urged Hungary and Turkey to swiftly approve the Swedish and Finnish applications for membership in the NATO defense alliance. Hungary and Turkey are the only two remaining NATO members to not yet have ratified the applications. "All eyes are now on Hungary and Turkey. We are waiting for these countries to ratify our applications. I think it would be important that this would happen preferably sooner than later," Marin told a joint news conference with other Nordic leaders. Finland and Sweden did not pursue NATO membership for decades but were prompted to do so in May by Russia’s unprovoked massive invasion of Ukraine in February. To read the original story from Reuters, click here.