Updated 09.51 | Published 09.34
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full screen The Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament has signed Sweden’s NATO application. Stock photography Photo: Denes Erdos/AP/TT
The Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament, László Kövér, has signed Sweden’s NATO application, writes the Reuters news agency.
However, a signature by the Hungarian president is also required before Hungary’s ratification can be sent to Washington, according to Foreign Minister Tobias Billström’s press secretary.
On February 26, Hungary’s parliament voted yes to Sweden’s NATO application.
The issue ended up on the parliament’s table already in the summer of 2022, but Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s Fidesz party has repeatedly delayed the vote.
Hungary was the last of the NATO member states to approve the Swedish application.
First of all, it remains for the Hungarian president to sign the protocol.
Hungary still has no president after Katalin Novák resigned from the post. Her successor, Tamás Sulyok, was elected on Monday, but will only take office on Tuesday, March 5. In the meantime, Speaker László Kövér steps in as interim president.
The president has five days to sign once parliament has sent over the documents.