Copenhagen, 22 March 2023 (dpa/MIA) - The Swedish parliament is set to vote on the country's NATO membership on Wednesday.

The vote will be preceded by a debate in parliament starting at 9 am (0800 GMT). A result is to be expected at 4 pm earliest with a majority expected to vote in favour.

Joining the alliance requires amendments to the law which need to be approved.

The vote does not however, guarantee Sweden's entry to NATO. All 30 members of the defence alliance have to approve Sweden's accession and Hungary and Turkey have not yet agreed to Sweden's membership.

Ankara has opposed Sweden's membership for months, claiming the country has not implemented enough countermeasures against anti-Islamic rhetoric and terrorist organizations.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan faces elections in May and a hard line may attract religious, conservative voters.

Finland and Sweden applied together for NATO membership last May in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, with the assumption that the two Nordic allies would not join the alliance without the other.

They then ran into opposition from Turkey, however, which now opposes Swedish membership but not that of Finland. Hungary did not have any objections about Finland's accession to NATO either.