The US Senate overwhelmingly approves NATO membership for Finland and Sweden | NATO
The US Senate gave near-unanimous bipartisan approval to NATO membership for Finland and Sweden on Wednesday, calling the expansion of the western defense bloc a “slam dunk” for US national security and a day of reckoning for Vladimir Putin.
The 95-1 vote in favor of two European countries that, until Russia’s war on Ukraine, had long avoided military alliances took a decisive step toward an expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and its 73-year-old mutual defense pact between the United States and democratic allies in Europe .
Joe Biden, who has been the main player gathering global financial and material support for Ukraine, has sought quick entry for the two former non-military allies of the northern European countries.
Approval from all member states – currently 30 – is required. Finland’s and Sweden’s candidacies have won ratification from more than half of NATO’s member states in the roughly three months since the two applied.
“It sends a warning shot to tyrants around the world who think that free democracies are just for the taking,” Senator Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat, said before the vote.
“Russia’s unprovoked invasion has changed the way we think about world security,” she added.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who visited Kyiv earlier this year, urged unanimous approval. Speaking to the Senate, McConnell cited Finland’s and Sweden’s well-funded, modernizing militaries and their experience working with US forces and weapons systems, calling the decision a “slam-dunk for national security” in the US.
“Their joining will make NATO stronger and America safer. If any senator is looking for a defensible excuse to vote no, I wish them well,” McConnell said.
Senator Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri who often aligns his positions with the most ardent supporters of Donald Trump, has been one of the few to speak in opposition. Hawley spoke on the Senate floor to call European security alliances a distraction from what he called America’s main rival — China, not Russia.
“We can do more in Europe … devote more resources, more firepower … or do what we need to do to deter Asia and China. We can’t do both,” Hawley said, calling his a “classic nationalist approach” to foreign policy.
Officials from the US Department of State and Defense consider the two countries to be net “security providers”, which strengthens NATO’s defense position in the Baltics in particular. Finland is expected to exceed NATO’s 2% of GDP defense spending target by 2022, and Sweden is committed to meeting the 2% target.
Sweden and Finland applied in May, setting aside their longstanding stance of military non-alignment. It was a major change in security arrangements for the two countries after neighboring Russia launched its war on Ukraine in late February. Biden encouraged their accession and welcomed the heads of government of the two countries to the White House in May.
The United States and its European allies have rallied with newfound partnerships in the face of the Russian president’s aggression, strengthening the alliance formed after World War II.
“Enlarging NATO is the exact opposite of what Putin envisioned when he ordered his tanks to invade Ukraine,” Senator Bob Menendez, a New Jersey Democrat and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on Wednesday, adding that the West could not allow Russia. to “launch invasions of countries”.
Biden sent the minutes to the Senate for review in July, launching a particularly speedy process in the typically divided and slower chamber.
Each member government of NATO must give its approval for a new member to join. The process ran into unexpected trouble when Turkey raised concerns about adding Sweden and Finland, accusing the two of being soft on outlawed Turkish-Kurdish exile groups. Turkey’s objections still threaten the two countries’ membership.