Biden is to ratify Finland’s and Sweden’s bid for membership in NATO
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WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden will sign ratification documents on Tuesday that bring Finland and Sweden one step closer to joining the NATO alliance.
Last week, the Senate voted 95 to 1 to ratify Finland and Sweden’s entry into the world’s most powerful military alliance.
In May, both nations began the formal process of applying to NATO against the backdrop of Russia’s war in Ukraine. Moscow, long wary of NATO expansion, has opposed the two nations’ plans to join the alliance.
Both Finland and Sweden already meet many of the requirements to be NATO members. Some of the requirements include having a functioning democratic political system, a willingness to provide financial transparency and the ability to provide military contributions to NATO’s mission.
Biden welcomed leaders from both countries to the White House in May and pledged to work with the Senate — which had to sign off on US approval of the NATO bid — and the other 29 members of the alliance to quickly bring Sweden and Finland into the group .
At the time, Biden, flanked by Finnish President Sauli Niinisto and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, said the two countries would “make NATO stronger.” He called their move to join the pact a “victory for democracy”.
U.S. President Joe Biden, flanked by Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, speaks in the Rose Garden after a meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, on May 19, 2022.
Almond Ngan | AFP | Getty Images
Following Biden’s signature, the governments of the Czech Republic, Greece, Hungary, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain and Turkey will still need to sign the instruments of ratification by the end of September.
In June, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the leaders of the alliance had reached an agreement to let in Finland and Sweden after resolving concerns about keeping Turkey out. Earlier, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would not approve the applications, citing their support for Kurdish organizations that Turkey considers security threats.
Biden is scheduled to sign the measure at 2 p.m. ET from the East Room of the White House.