Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was questioned about it as he left the world headquarters of the Ismaili Imamat, in Lisbon, where he took part in a ceremony today.

“This is very good news,” replied the Head of State, who refused on this occasion to make new statements to journalists on subjects unrelated to the Ismaili community, led by Prince Aga Khan. .

Sweden is still taking part in the NATO summit which started today in Vilnius as an observer country, but its entry into the alliance has come closer, with the support of the Turkish and Hungarian governments, which have pledged to send the ratification thereof to their respective parliaments.

“Our position is clear: the government supports Stockholm joining the Atlantic Alliance,” declared Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.

In a statement issued today, ahead of his departure for the NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, the Hungarian Foreign Minister added: “The completion of the ratification process is now only a technical matter. “.

On Monday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his support for Sweden’s entry into the Atlantic Alliance. In return, Stockholm pledged to support Turkey’s efforts to join the European Union, including visa liberalisation.

Portugal has been part of NATO since its foundation in 1949. This political and military alliance was formed by the United States of America, Canada, France, United Kingdom, Germany and Norway, between others. Greece and Turkey joined in 1952. Hungary and Poland in 1999.

The last countries to join NATO were Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania in 2004, Albania and Croatia in 2009, Montenegro in 2017 and North Macedonia in 2020, and Finland in 2024.

With the accession of Finland, a neighboring country of the Russian Federation, after more than a year of war in Ukraine which began with the Russian invasion of February 24, 2022, the Atlantic Alliance now has 31 member countries.

Also read: NATO allies pledge to help Kyiv meet membership requirements