Article author:
Reuters
Washington — On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden in a document approving Finland and Sweden's accession to NATO, the most important expansion of the military alliance since the 1990s, in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. I was going to sign it.
The US Senate boosted expansion last week with an overwhelming 95-1. This is a rare exhibition of bipartisan unity in the heavily divided Washington. Democratic and Republican senators strongly endorsed the membership of the two Scandinavian countries and explained that the modern army is already an important ally in close cooperation with NATO.
Voting is a rhetoric in Washington during the former Republican administration of Donald Trump, who pursued "America First" foreign policy and criticized NATO's unreachable allies. Was in contrast. Defense spending target.
Sweden and Finland have applied for NATO in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Moscow has repeatedly warned both countries to join the alliance.
NATO's 30 allies signed the Swedish and Finnish Membership Protocols last month, and once all members have ratified the decision, they will be able to join the nuclear armament alliance.
Membership must be ratified by Parliament of all 30 members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization before Finland and Sweden are protected by Article 5.
Ratification can take up to a year, but accession has already been approved in several countries, including Canada, Germany and Italy.
(reported by Patricia Zengerle, edited by Mark Heinrich)
