BREAKING: Hungary’s Parliament ratifies Finland’s NATO bid – UPDATE

Hungarian lawmakers on Monday voted to ratify Finland’s NATO accession.

Parliament approved Finland’s bid with 182 votes in favour and 6 against.

Finland applied to join the military alliance in the wake of the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine war.

The right-wing ,used to be anti-communist party Our Homeland (Mi Hazánk), which often defends Russia’s interests, voted against in parliament, that it would be a provocation to expand the military alliance on Russia’s border, while the neutral zone is an international interest. But there is no neutral zone. Russia’s land border is nearly 20 000 kilometers long, and one-sixteenth of this (1,215 kilometers) is shared with NATO members.

If Finland’s NATO accession is finalised, the border between NATO and Russia will be even longer. Belarus has also joined Russia militarily, so the Belarusian border could be a collision zone in a possible major conflict.

As we wrote before, the Hungarian Parliament has still not voted on Sweden’s accession. Here is why Hungary blocks Sweden’s NATO accession, the government explained. Details HERE.

• read also: Ukraine taking revenge on Hungary? This decision will hurt, read details HERE.

UPDATE

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin on Monday evening thanked Hungary for ratifying her country’s NATO bid.

“Thank you for the clear decision!” Marin said on Twitter.

She also spoke out in favour of Sweden’s swift accession to the alliance.

“The NATO memberships of Finland and Sweden strengthen the security of the entire alliance,”

she said. “It is in everyone’s interest that Sweden also become a NATO member before the Vilnius summit.”