Finnish FM To Talk w/Hungarian FM @ FAC On 20 Mar As Pres. Meets Erdogan

Speaking in Ankara, Turkey, Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto confirms that there are plans to hold talks with Hungarian FM Peter Szijjarto at the Foreign Affairs Council meeting on Monday 20 March. Alongside Turkey, Hungary is the other NATO member state that has yet to ratify Finland (and Sweden's) accession to the military alliance. Later today, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto will hold talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with speculation that Helsinki could jettison its long-standing plan to join NATO alongside Sweden, and instead join in a solo bid.

• Turkey remains opposed to Swedish accession until Stockholm extradites a number of Kurdish dissidents that Ankara has said are terrorists. There are no such qualms for Turkey regarding the Finnish bid.
• Hungary has held up the accession of both Nordic states for different reasons, instead seeking to gain concessions from the European Commission regarding structural funding.
• Earlier this week, the governing Fidesz Party of PM Viktor Orbanstated that a parliamentary vote on ratification would be delayed until the week of 27 March at the earliest. Haavisto likely to impress on Szijjarto the urgency of Finland's bid, especially if Turkey signs off on its accession later today.