BUDAPEST, March 7. /TASS/. Hungary has handed over to the US government a ratification document on Sweden’s accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.

During his visit to Washington, he noted that on Wednesday, per his instructions, Hungarian Ambassador to the US Szabolcs Takacs handed over to the US Department of State a document approving Sweden’s accession to the military bloc. "He delivered that document there, and, thus, we have done everything on the part of Hungary for Sweden to become a NATO member," the top Hungarian diplomat said in an interview with the M1 TV channel aired from the US capital.

On Thursday afternoon, Sweden’s Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom, who are also in Washington, will visit the US Department of State to submit their NATO accession paperwork. "If this happens, then early next week, Sweden’s flag can be raised at NATO headquarters in Brussels," Szijjarto said.

Hungary was the last member of the North Atlantic Alliance to ratify Stockholm’s membership application. On February 26, the Hungarian parliament formally ratified Sweden’s NATO bid.

Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership simultaneously on May 18, 2022, saying that the move had been prompted by developments in Ukraine.