WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. senators on Wednesday overwhelmingly approved bipartisan membership of Finland and Sweden in NATO, calling the expansion of the Western defense bloc a “blow” to U.S. national security and a day of reckoning for Russian President Vladimir Putin over his invasion of Ukraine.
Wednesday’s 95-1 vote — for 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 defense pact between the United States and democratic allies in Europe.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer invited the ambassadors of both nations to the chamber’s gallery to attend the vote.
President Joe Biden, who has been a key player in rallying global economic and material support for Ukraine, has called for the swift entry of the two northern European nations, which were not previously militarily united.
“This historic vote sends an important signal about America’s sustained, bipartisan commitment to NATO and to ensuring that our Alliance is ready to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow,” Biden said in a statement Wednesday evening.
“I look forward to signing the accession protocols and welcoming Sweden and Finland, two strong democracies with very capable militaries, to the largest defense alliance in history,” the president added.
Approval is required from all member states – currently 30. The bids of the two prosperous northern European nations have won ratification by more than half of NATO member states in the roughly three months since the two applied. It’s a deliberately fast pace meant to send a message to Russia about its six-month war against Ukraine’s Western-looking government.
“This sends a warning shot to tyrants around the world who believe that free democracies are up for grabs,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., said in a Senate debate before the vote.
“Russia’s unprovoked invasion changed the way we think about global security,” she added.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who visited Kyiv earlier this year, called for unanimous approval. Speaking to the Senate, McConnell cited the well-funded, modernizing armies of Finland and Sweden and their experience working with American forces and weapons systems, calling it a “national security screw-up” for the United States.
“Their accession will make NATO stronger and America more secure.” If any senator is looking for a defensible excuse to vote no, I wish them luck,” McConnell said.
Sen. Josh Hawley, a Republican from Missouri who often aligns himself with former President Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters, cast the only no vote. Hawley took the floor on the Senate floor to call European security alliances a distraction from what he called the United States’ main rival — China, not Russia.
“We can do more in Europe … commit 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 a “classic nationalist approach” to foreign policy.
Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas, like Hawley as a potential 2024 presidential candidate, rebutted his points without naming his potential Republican challenger.
That includes arguing against Hawley’s claim that a bigger NATO would mean more liabilities for the US military, the world’s largest. Cotton was one of many citing the militaries of both nations – including Finland’s experience in securing hundreds of miles of border with Russia and its well-trained ground forces, as well as Sweden’s well-equipped navy and air force.
They are “two of the strongest members of the alliance the moment they join,” Cotton said.
Representatives of the US Department of State and Defense consider the two countries to be “security providers” strengthening NATO’s defense posture, particularly in the Baltics. Finland is expected to exceed NATO’s defense spending target of 2% of GDP in 2022, and Sweden has committed to meeting the 2% target.
This is in contrast to many of the newcomers to NATO, formerly from the orbit of the Soviet Union, many with smaller militaries and economies. North Macedonia, NATO’s newest nation, brought an active military of just 8,000 personnel when it joined in 2020.
Senators’ votes to approve NATO bids are often lopsided – the one for North Macedonia was 91-2. But Wednesday’s endorsement by nearly all senators present carried additional foreign policy weight in light of Russia’s war.
Schumer, D-N.Y., said he and McConnell had committed to the country’s leaders that the Senate would approve the ratification resolution “as quickly as possible” to strengthen the alliance “in light of recent Russian aggression.”
Sweden and Finland applied in May, setting aside their long-standing position of military non-alignment. It was a major shift in security arrangements for both countries after neighboring Russia launched its war on Ukraine in late February. Biden encouraged their accession and welcomed the heads of government of both countries to the White House in May, standing shoulder to shoulder with them in a sign of US support.
The US and its European allies have come together in a newfound partnership in the face of Putin’s military invasion, as well as the Russian leader’s wide-ranging statements this year condemning NATO, issuing veiled reminders of Russia’s nuclear arsenal and asserting Russia’s historic territorial claims to many of its neighbours.
“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 cannot allow Russia to “launch invasions of countries”.
Wednesday’s vote by Republicans and Democrats stood out for the usually slow-moving and divided chamber. The senators rejected an amendment proposed by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., designed to ensure that NATO’s guarantee to protect its members would not supersede Congress’ formal role in authorizing the use of military force. Paul, a longtime advocate of keeping the U.S. out of most military operations abroad, voted “present” to ratify the membership bids of Sweden and Finland.
Senators approved another amendment by Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, declaring that all NATO members must spend a minimum of 2 percent of their gross domestic product on defense and 20 percent of their defense budgets on capital equipment, including research and development .
Each NATO member government must give its approval for the accession of each new member. The process ran into unexpected problems when Turkey raised concerns about the addition of Sweden and Finland, accusing the two of being soft on Turkey’s outlawed Kurdish exile groups. Turkey’s objections still threaten both countries’ membership.
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