The Hungarian parliament should ratify Sweden’s accession to NATO “as soon as possible,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in Brussels on Wednesday, AFP reports.

“The sooner, the better,” Stoltenberg replied at a joint press conference with Hungarian President Katalin Novak, given that Hungary is one of the last two NATO countries, along with Turkey, that have not ratified NATO accession.

“Hungary has indicated several times that it will not be the last country to ratify Sweden’s accession,” Stoltenberg explained.

“Now I count on the fact that Hungary will fulfill this obligation. The Hungarian parliament should ratify without delay,” he added.

Novak, whose role is essentially ceremonial, assured that his country’s position on this matter has not changed. She said she discussed the issue with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán before his trip to Brussels.

Last month, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan sent Sweden’s NATO accession treaty to his country’s parliament, which must now ratify it.

Sweden and Finland abandoned decades of neutrality to apply to join NATO after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

Finland officially became the 31st member of the Alliance.