Wednesday’s 95-1 vote — to nominate two Western European nations that, until Russia’s war against Ukraine, had long avoided military alliances — took a critical step toward expanding the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the 73-year-old pact. mutual defense between the United States and its democratic allies in Europe. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called the two nations’ ambassadors into the chamber to watch the vote. President Joe Biden, who has been a major player in rallying global financial and material support for Ukraine, has sought quick entry for the two previously civilian-aligned northern European nations. “This historic vote sends an important message about America’s continued, bipartisan commitment to NATO and to ensuring our Alliance is ready 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 republics with highly capable militaries, to the largest defense alliance in history,” the president added. Approval is required from all — currently 30 — member states. The bids of the two prosperous northern European nations have won the endorsement of more than half of NATO member states in the roughly three months since the two were submitted. It’s a deliberately fast pace meant to send a message to Russia about its six-month war against Ukraine’s Western-like government. “It sends a warning shot to tyrants around the world who think that free democracies are merely permissive,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said in Senate debate before the vote. “Russia’s unprovoked invasion has changed the way we think about global security,” he added. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who visited Kyiv earlier this year, called for unanimous approval. Speaking on the Senate floor, McConnell cited the well-funded, modernizing militaries of Finland and Sweden and their experience working with US forces and weapons systems, calling it a “national security slam-dunk” for the United States. “Their entry will make NATO stronger and America safer. If any senator is looking for a valid excuse to vote no, I wish them the best of luck,” McConnell said. Sen. Josh Hawley, Republican of Missouri, who often aligns his positions with those of former President Donald Trump’s staunchest supporters, cast the only no vote. Hawley took the Senate floor to call European security alliances a distraction from what he called the United States’ main adversary — 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 it his “classic nationalist approach” to foreign policy. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, like Hawley a potential 2024 presidential candidate, pushed back on his views without naming his potential Republican challenger. This included arguing against Hawley’s claim that a larger NATO would mean more liabilities for the US military, the largest in the world. Cotton was one of several to point to the two nations’ military strengths – including Finland’s experience securing hundreds of miles of its 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 at the time they join,” Cotton said. US State and Defense officials see the two countries as pure “security providers,” bolstering NATO’s defense posture in the Baltics in particular. Finland is expected to exceed NATO’s defense spending target of 2% of GDP in 2022 and Sweden is committed to meeting the 2% target. This contrasts with many of the newcomers to NATO who came from the Soviet Union’s orbit, many with smaller armies and economies. North Macedonia, NATO’s most recent newcomer nation, brought an active military of just 8,000 when it joined in 2020. Senators’ votes approving NATO nominations are often inconclusive — the one for North Macedonia was 91-2. But Wednesday’s approval by nearly all senators present carried additional foreign policy weight in light of the Russia war. Schumer, D-N.Y., said he and McConnell had pledged 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, abandoning their long-standing stance on military non-alignment. It was a major change in security arrangements for the two countries after neighboring Russia launched its war against Ukraine in late February. Biden encouraged their participation 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 US and its European allies have rallied in a new partnership in the face of Putin’s military incursion, 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 claims. in the lands of many neighbors. “NATO expansion is the exact opposite of what Putin envisioned when he ordered his tanks into Ukraine,” Sen. Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on 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 and divided chamber. The senators voted down a proposed amendment by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., intended to ensure that NATO’s guarantee to defend its members does not supersede Congress’ formal role in authorizing the use of military force. Paul, a long-time supporter of keeping the US out of most military action abroad, voted “absent” to ratify the membership bids of Sweden and Finland. Senators approved another amendment by Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, stating that all NATO members should spend at least 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense and 20 percent of their defense budgets on major equipment, including research and development. Each NATO member government must give its approval for any new member to join. The process ran into unexpected problems when Turkey raised concerns about the addition of Sweden and Finland, accusing the two of being soft on banned Turkish Kurdish exile groups. Turkey’s objections continue to threaten the integration of the two countries.
Follow AP’s coverage of NATO at
