Editing Tripartite Pact (section)

===Hungary===
The [[Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946)|Kingdom of Hungary]] was the fourth state to sign the pact and the first to join it after 27 September 1940. The Hungarian ambassador in Berlin, [[Döme Sztójay]], telegraphed his foreign minister, [[István Csáky]], immediately after news of the signing and of Ribbentrop's speech had reached him. He urged Csáky to join the pact and even claimed that it was the expectation of Germany and Italy that he would do so. He considered it especially important for Hungary to sign the pact before Romania did. In response, Csáky asked Sztójay and the ambassador in Rome, [[Frigyes Villani]], to make enquiries regarding Hungary's accession and its potential obligations under the pact. On 28 September, the German secretary of state for foreign affairs, [[Ernst von Weizsäcker]], informed Hungary that Ribbentrop had meant not a "formal accession" but merely "an attitude in the spirit of the Pact". The Italian answer was similar. Nonetheless, within a week, the Hungarian government had sent out formal notice of its "spiritual adherence" to the pact.{{sfn|Macartney|1956|pp=439–42}}

In the week after Hungary's "spiritual adherence", the [[Balkan]] situation changed. Romania granted a German request to send troops to guard the [[Ploiești]] oil fields, and Hungary granted a German request to allow its troops to transit Hungary to get to Romania. On 7 October 1940, the first German troops arrived in Ploiești. It is probable that Romania's accession to the pact had been delayed until the German troops were in place for fear of the Soviets taking pre-emptive action to secure the oil fields for themselves. In turn, Hungary's accession had been delayed until Romania's had been negotiated. On about 9 October, Weizsäcker delivered a message from Ribbentrop to Sztójay to inform him that Hitler now wanted "friendly states" to join the pact. In a telephone conversation with Ciano on 9 or 10 October, Ribbentrop claimed that Hungary had sent a second request to join the pact. Mussolini reluctantly consented. On 12 October, Ribbentrop informed Sztójay that both Italy and Japan had consented to Hungary's accession. Since the Hungarian regent, [[Miklós Horthy]], had specifically instructed Sztójay to ask for Hungary to be the first new state to accede to the pact, Ribbentrop granted the request.{{sfn|Macartney|1956|pp=439–42}}