US President Joe Biden was due to sign documents on Tuesday confirming Finland and Sweden’s membership in NATO, the military alliance’s most significant expansion since the 1990s as it responds to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The U.S. Senate backed the expansion by an overwhelming 95-1 vote last week, a rare show of bipartisan unity in a deeply divided Washington. Both Democratic and Republican senators strongly endorsed the two Nordic countries’ membership, describing them as important allies whose modern militaries already work closely with NATO.
The vote was a sharp contrast to the administration of former Republican President Donald Trump, who pursued an “America first” foreign policy and criticized NATO allies for falling short of defense spending targets.
Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO in response to Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly warned both countries against joining the alliance.
NATO’s 30 allies signed the accession protocol for Sweden and Finland last month, allowing them to join the nuclear-armed alliance once all member states ratify the decision.
Accession must be ratified by the parliaments of all 30 North Atlantic Treaty Organization members before Finland and Sweden are protected by Article 5, the defense clause that states an attack on one ally is an attack on all.
Ratification can take up to a year, although accession has already been approved by a few countries, including Canada, Germany and Italy.
Source: Capital
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