Hungary’s parliament on February 26th voted through Sweden’s Nato application, clearing the final hurdle before the Nordic country can join the military alliance.

With 188 votes in favour and six against, Hungary became the final country to approve Sweden’s Nato application.

Now that the parliament has approved Sweden’s membership, the final decision needs to be made by Hungary’s interim president, currently László Kövér, who has five days to sign the approval and then send it to the US state department in Washington.

All that then remains is for Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg to invite Sweden to present its accession document to the US.

This is expected to be done by Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson at a ceremony in Brussels, with the date still to be confirmed. After that, the flag of Sweden will be hoisted at the Nato headquarters, and the country will officially be a Nato member.

In the case of Finland, for example, Turkey gave the green light on March 30th, 2023, and Finland became a Nato member on April 4th.