War in Ukraine, live: the head of the IAEA alongside Volodymyr Zelensky in the Zaporizhia region

After months of procrastination, the Hungarian Parliament, dominated by the party of nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban, ratified Finland’s accession to NATO on Monday, bringing the Nordic country a little closer to the Atlantic Alliance. A large majority of MPs (182 out of 199 seats) approved Helsinki’s entry into NATO, while the case of Sweden will, according to the ruling Fidesz party, be discussed ” later “. Among the 30 members of the organization, 28 countries (United States, United Kingdom, France, Germany, etc.) have already ratified the membership of the two countries.

With the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Finland and Sweden decided to turn the page on their policy of military non-alignment in force since the 1990s, itself inherited from decades of forced or chosen neutrality, by asking to join NATO in May 2022. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan gave the green light in mid-March for Finland, which shares the longest European border (1,340 km) with Russia, behind Ukraine. The vote in Parliament could take place shortly.

The situation is more delicate for its Swedish neighbour, which still faces objections from Ankara. Turkey notably accuses Sweden of being a haven for militants “terrorists” Kurds, and to refuse extraditions, which are in fact decided by the Swedish courts.