Washington – The Senate voted 95-1 on Wednesday to ratify NATO accession of Finland and Swedenwith overwhelming bipartisan support expected to rapidly expand the Western military alliance in response The Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The only dissenting vote was Republican Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri. Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky voted absent.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who visited Kyiv and the region earlier this year, had called for a show of unanimous approval. Speaking from the Senate floor, McConnell cited the two Nordic nations’ modernizing and well-funded militaries and their experience working with U.S. forces and weapons systems, calling it a “slamdunk for national security” by the United States.
“Their membership will make NATO stronger and America safer. If any senator is looking for a defensible excuse to vote no, I wish them the best of luck,” the Senate Republican leader said.
Olivier Matthys / AP
After the vote, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer he tweeted that Sweden and Finland’s membership “will strengthen NATO. It will advance the cause of democracy. And it is even more urgent given Putin’s barbaric, immoral and unjustified war in Ukraine.”
The senators invited the countries’ ambassadors to witness the debate and the vote, which would open a new era for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. President Biden has requested fast-track entry for the two previously non-military-aligned northern European allies, and passage of the ratification resolution has strong bipartisan support in Congress.
“Our NATO alliance is the foundation that has guaranteed democracy in the Western world since the end of World War II,” Schumer said before the vote.
Schumer said he and McConnell had pledged to the nation’s leaders that the Senate would pass the ratification resolution “as soon as we can” to strengthen the alliance “in light of recent Russian aggression.”
The vote took place late in the afternoon after the debate on the measure and the various amendments. A Paul amendment ensured that NATO’s guarantee to defend its members does not supersede the formal role of Congress in authorizing the use of military force. Another by Republican Senator Dan Sullivan of Alaska stated that all NATO members should spend a minimum of 2% of their gross domestic product on defense and 20% of their defense budgets on “major equipment, including research and development”.
NATO’s 30 member countries are in the process of considering the addition after Sweden and Finland abandoned their long-standing military non-alignment position. It was a major change in security arrangements for the two countries after neighboring Russia launched its war in Ukraine earlier this year.
The US and its European allies have come together in a new partnership in the face of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression, strengthening the NATO alliance formed for the first time since World War II.
Mr. Biden sent the protocols to the Senate for review in July, setting off a remarkably speedy process in the normally divided and slower-moving chamber.
Each NATO member country must approve the accession of new members. The process ran into trouble when Turkey expressed concerns about adding Sweden and Finland, in part because it sees both countries as soft on banned groups in the Turkish Kurdish exile. But the process has continued to move forward despite these initial reservations.
Month
