Hungarian ruling party lawmakers give no date for Nordic NATO ratifications

Csaba Hende, the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly of Hungary briefs the media after meeting with Matti Vanhanen, the Speaker of the Finnish Parliament, in Helsinki, Finland, March 8, 2023. Lehtikuva/Vesa Moilanen/via REUTERS

HELSINKI (Reuters) - Hungarian ruling party lawmakers visiting Finland and Sweden could not confirm a date for the Hungarian parliament's pending ratification of the two Nordic countries' NATO admission, the leader of the delegation said on Wednesday.

Sweden and Finland applied last year for membership of the transatlantic military alliance after Russian forces swept into Ukraine. All 30 NATO members must ratify the applications, and Hungary, as well as Turkey, have held back their approvals.