With Turkey voting to include Sweden in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), only Hungary has yet to do so.
For this, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that he was willing to meet his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán to discuss how to finalize Sweden's NATO membership.
The Associated Press cited Swedish media when it reported that Orbán first invited Kristersson to Budapest to discuss completing the accession process.
Kristersson said that he agreed that more dialogue between the countries would be beneficial, but insisted that he looked forward to meeting his Hungarian counterpart at the European Council meeting in Brussels in February and not in Budapest.
"I look forward to discussing all these issues in depth with you in Budapest at a time convenient for both of us," the Swedish prime minister wrote in a letter to Orbán, according to Swedish news agency TT.
Due to the organization's regulations, NATO membership requires the unanimity of all member countries. However, both Turkey and Hungary became the alliance's holdouts in accepting Sweden amid Russia's war in Ukraine.
Orbán, a right-wing populist who has been lukewarm in his support for neighboring Ukraine and maintained a friendly relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin, has long promised that Hungary would not be the last NATO member to ratify Sweden's bid.
Regarding Sweden's NATO bid, he pledged to convince his legislative colleagues to approve Sweden's NATO membership following widespread criticism.
Turkish Approval
It was earlier reported that Turkish legislators endorsed Sweden's NATO membership bid 287 to 55, with ruling party members saying that the country's tougher stance on Kurdish militants was key to winning approval.
The Turkish ratification has yet to be signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Prior to the long-awaited approval, Turkey had delayed Sweden's membership for more than a year, accusing the country of being too lenient toward groups Ankara officials regarded as security threats.
Sweden and Finland have abandoned their traditional military nonalignment to seek NATO's protection following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Finland already entered the alliance in April 2023, making it NATO's 31st member state. If Hungary ratified Sweden's bid, it would become the 32nd.
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