US Senate reprimands Russia approves Finland, Sweden for NATO: NPR
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
WASHINGTON – U.S. senators gave overwhelming bipartisan approval to NATO membership for Finland and Sweden on Wednesday, calling the expansion of the western defense bloc a “slam-dunk” for U.S. national security and a day of reckoning for Russian President Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine.
Wednesday’s 95-1 vote — in favor of the candidacy of two Western European nations that, until Russia’s war on Ukraine, had long avoided military alliances — took a decisive step toward expanding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and its 73-year-old mutual pact. defense among the United States and democratic allies in Europe.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer invited ambassadors from the two nations to the chamber dais to witness the vote.
President 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 allied northern European nations.
“This historic vote sends an important signal about America’s enduring, bipartisan commitment to NATO and ensuring our alliance is prepared to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow,” Biden said in a statement Wednesday night.
“I look forward to signing the accession protocols and welcoming Sweden and Finland, two strong democracies with highly capable militaries, into the largest defensive alliance in history,” the president added.
Approval from all member states – currently 30 – is required. The candidacies of the two prosperous northern European nations have won ratification from more than half of NATO member states in the roughly three months since the two applied. It’s a deliberate fast pace intended to send a message to Russia about its six-month-old war against Ukraine’s Western-style government.
“It sends a warning shot to tyrants around the world who believe that free democracies are only current,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said in Senate debate 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 American forces and weapons systems, calling it a “national security slam dunk” in the United States.
“Their accession 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.
Late. Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri who often aligns his positions with the most ardent supporters of former President Donald Trump, only voted no. 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.
Late. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, like Hawley a potential 2024 presidential candidate, rebutted his point without naming his potential Republican rival.
That included arguing against Hawley’s claim that a bigger NATO would mean more obligations for the US military, the world’s largest. Cotton was one of many who cited the military strengths of the two nations – including Finland’s experience in securing its hundreds of miles of border with Russia and its well-trained ground forces, and Sweden’s well-equipped navy and air force.
They are “two of the strongest members of the alliance the minute they join,” Cotton said.
American government and defense officials 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 has committed to meeting the 2% target.
That’s in contrast to many of NATO’s newcomers who previously came from the orbit of the Soviet Union, many with smaller militaries and economies. North Macedonia, NATO’s latest entrant, brought with it an active military of just 8,000 personnel when it joined in 2020.
Senators’ votes approving NATO candidates are often lopsided – that for North Macedonia was 91-2. But Wednesday’s approval from nearly all senators present carried extra foreign policy weight in light of Russia’s war.
Schumer, D-N.Y., said he and McConnell had committed to the nation’s leaders that the Senate would pass the ratification resolution “as quickly as we could” to strengthen the alliance “in light of recent Russian aggression.”
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 two countries’ heads of government to the White House in May, standing side by side with them in a show of US support.
The United States and its European allies have rallied with newfound partnerships in the face of Putin’s military invasion, as well as the Russian leader’s sweeping statements this year condemning NATO, issuing veiled reminders of Russia’s nuclear arsenal and asserting Russia’s historic territorial claims to many of its territories. neighbors.
“Enlarging NATO is the exact opposite of what Putin envisioned when he ordered his tanks to invade Ukraine,” Sen. Bob Menendez, Democrat of New Jersey and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Wednesday, adding that the West could not allow Russia. to “launch invasions of countries.”
Wednesday’s vote by Republicans and Democrats stood out for the normally slow-moving and divided chamber. Senators voted down an amendment by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., intended to ensure that NATO’s guarantee to defend its members does not replace a formal role for Congress in authorizing the use of military force. Paul, a longtime advocate of keeping the U.S. out of most military action overseas, voted “present” on the ratification of Sweden and Finland’s membership applications.
Senators approved another amendment from Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, which states that all NATO members should spend at least 2% of their gross domestic product on defense and 20% of their defense budgets on critical equipment, including research and development.
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.