Turkey has been the nation that has stalled the application
For more than a month, Sweden and Finland have put their NATO applications “on ice”.
This was because of a protest in January pushed Turkey to suspend negotiations – and even suggest Sweden may never join the alliance.
All 30 NATO allies need to approve a new member.
But Finland and Sweden have been waiting for nearly a year now, after dropping a policy of military non-alignment last Spring — in the wake of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine.
This week will start with Hungary’s parliament giving its final decision on whether to allow them into the alliance.
They don’t hold the same hardline as Turkey, but they’ve been skeptical of new members in the alliance. And they’re the second to last to ratify.
Of course, Budapest has historically had a friendly relationship with Moscow.
Sweden, Finland, AND Turkey will resume talks later this week, getting back to the negotiation table after several weeks, potentially with some progress.
Turkey says they could be favourable to Finland’s membership — but at this stage, Stockholm has not satisfied the conditions they want to see.
And separately, Ukraine could finally join NATO in the “long term” according to the Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
The WHO suggested that there would be a place in the alliance, but not until after the invasion ended.
