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Hungarian Parliament approves Finland NATO membership
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Hungarian Parliament approves Finland NATO membership

28 March 2023
Over 10 months after Finland applied to join the NATO military alliance, the Hungarian Parliament has ratified Finland's application to the currently 30-member bloc in a vote on Monday (27 March). The vote was passed by 182 votes for and only 6 votes against. In order to become a NATO member, an applicant country must be approved by every member state individually, and following Hungary's approval yesterday only one country remains, Turkey. Turkey's approval of Finland's application to NATO is indeed expected soon as the country after the country's parliamentary committee on foreign affairs approved their application last week. A parliamentary vote on accession is expected before the country's presidential elections on 14 May. Yesterday's vote comes after months of delay in both Budapest and Ankara over Finland and Sweden's NATO membership prospects. While Hungarian officials had spent months insisting that they simply busy with other business, at the end of last month the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán threatened to throw a spanner in the works over Finland and Sweden's history of open criticism of rule-of-law in Hungary.
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Mass protests in Israel after PM fires defence minister
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Mass protests in Israel after PM fires defence minister

27 March 2023
Last night (26-27 March) saw massive protests in Israel after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fired his defence minister after he spoke out against controversial judicial reform plans that have led to weeks of protests. Gallant had voiced concerns that the divisions in society being caused by the proposed legislation were hurting morale in the military and emboldening Israel’s enemies across the region. "I see how the source of our strength is being eroded," Gallant said. This led to Netanyahu removing him from his position, saying that "he doesn’t have any faith in him anymore and therefore he is fired." Meanwhile Israel's President Isaac Herzog addressed Netanyahu, tweeting, "For the sake of the unity of the people of Israel, for the sake of the responsibility we are obliged to, I call on you to stop the legislative process immediately." The judicial reform plans announced on 4 January would give parliament the authority to override Supreme Court decisions with a basic majority. The plans would also make it very difficult for the courts to declare a prime minister unfit for office and remove them for the courts.