FIN Pass Bill Allowing Accession; HUN Official Calls For Nordics' Approval

The Finnish Parliament has passed the necessary legislation to allow the country to join NATO once the accession process has been ratified by all member states. This comes as comments from an unnamed Hungarian foreign ministry official says that the NATO expansion to Sweden and Finland is 'a significant step in the security of the Euroatlantic region', and that the expansion will 'strengthen NATO.'

• The official calls on the Hungarian National Assembly to support the Nordic nations' entry 'as soon as possible'. Adds that the government 'supports talks between lawmakers, but the decision on NATO expansion should be driven by common sense rather than emotions.'
• The Hungarian legislature is currently debating the ratification of Sweden and Finland's accession, with speculation among gov't critics that Budapest could hold up the process in order to extract funding from Brussels (see 0903GMT EM bullet).