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US Senate rebukes Russia for approving Finland, Sweden for NATO: NPR

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., right, greets Paivi Nevala, Minister adviser to the Embassy of Finland, left, and Karin Olofsdotter, Sweden’s ambassador to the US, on Wednesday, August 3, 2022.

J. Scott Applewhite / AP


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J. Scott Applewhite / AP


Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, DN.Y., right, greets Paivi Nevala, Minister adviser to the Embassy of Finland, left, and Karin Olofsdotter, Sweden’s ambassador to the US, on Wednesday, August 3, 2022.

J. Scott Applewhite / AP

WASHINGTON – U.S. senators gave overwhelming bipartisan approval of NATO membership to Finland and Sweden on Wednesday, calling the expansion of the Western defense bloc a “bump” ” for the national security of the United States and a day for Russian President Vladimir Putin to reckon with the invasion of Ukraine.

Wednesday’s 95-1 vote – for the candidacy of two Western European nations that, until Russia’s entry into war against Ukraine, has long avoided a military alliance – took an important step towards opening expanded the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and its 73-year defense treaty between the United States and its democratic allies in Europe.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer invited the two countries’ ambassadors to the gallery to witness the vote.

President Joe Biden, who has played a key role in lobbying for global economic and material support for Ukraine, has sought rapid accession for the two formerly non-military Nordic countries.

“This historic vote sends an important signal of the United States’ sustained, bipartisan commitment to NATO and to ensure our Alliance is prepared to face the challenges of today and tomorrow. tomorrow,” Biden said in a statement Wednesday night.

“I look forward to signing the accession protocols and to welcoming Sweden and Finland, two strong democracies with highly capable militaries, into the greatest defensive alliance in history,” he said. system added.

Approval is required by all member states – currently 30 -. The candidates from the two prosperous Nordic countries have won approval from more than half of the NATO member states in about three months since the two countries submitted their applications. It was a purposefully fast pace intended to send a message to Russia about the six-month war against Ukraine’s Western-looking government.

“It sends a warning to tyrants around the world who believe liberal democracies are poised to take over,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.

Russia’s unprovoked invasion has changed the way we think about world security, she added.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who visited Kyiv earlier this year, called for a unanimous consensus. Addressing the Senate, McConnell cited the modernized, well-funded militaries of Finland and Sweden and their experience working with US forces and weapons systems, calling this “attack on national security” of the United States.

“Their joining will make NATO stronger and America safer,” McConnell said. “If any senator is looking for a good reason to vote no, I wish them luck,” McConnell said. speak.

Senator Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican who often ranks his position with former President Donald Trump’s most ardent supporters, voted no vote only. Hawley took to the Senate floor to call European security alliances a distraction from what he calls the United States’ main adversary – China, not Russia.

“We can do more in Europe … spend more resources, more firepower … or do what we need to do to deter Asia and China,” Hawley said. can do both”, Hawley calls him a “classical nationalist approach”. foreign policy.

Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas, like Hawley, a potential 2024 presidential candidate, dismissed his views without naming a potential Republican opponent.

That includes arguing against Hawley’s argument that a larger NATO would mean more obligations for the US military, the largest in the world. Cotton is one of many to cite the military might of the two countries – including Finland’s experience in securing hundreds of miles of its border with Russia and its well-trained ground forces, as well as its own forces. Sweden’s well-equipped navy and air force.

They were “two of the strongest members of the alliance as soon as they joined,” Cotton said.

US State and Defense officials see the two countries as “security providers”, reinforcing NATO’s defense posture in the Baltics in particular. Finland is expected to exceed NATO’s defense spending target of 2% of GDP by 2022, and Sweden has committed to the 2% target.

That is in contrast to many of the former NATO members from the Soviet orbit, many with smaller militaries and economies. North Macedonia, NATO’s most recent creation, brought with it an active army of just 8,000 personnel when it joined in 2020.

The votes of senators approving NATO candidates are often skewed – the score for North Macedonia is 91-2. But Wednesday’s approval from nearly all of the senators present added to the foreign policy weight of Russia’s entry into the war.

Schumer, DN.Y., said he and McConnell had pledged to the country’s leaders that the Senate would pass a ratification resolution “as quickly as possible” to fortify the coalition “in the face of near aggression Here’s Russia.”

Sweden and Finland applied in May, brushing aside their longstanding stance of no military allocation. This is a major change in the security arrangements of the two countries after neighboring Russia launched a war with Ukraine in late February. Biden encouraged them to join and welcomed the heads of government from both countries to the White House in May, standing with them to show support for the United States.

The United States and its European allies have forged a new partnership in the face of Putin’s military aggression, as has the Russian leader’s sweeping statements this year condemning NATO, offers reminders of Russia’s nuclear arsenal and affirms Russia’s historic claims to the territory of many countries. neighbor.

“The expansion of NATO is the complete opposite of what Putin envisioned when he ordered his tanks to invade Ukraine,” said Senator Bob Menendez, Democrat of 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 polling by Republicans and Democrats stood out for an often slow and divided chamber. Senators voted to reject Senator Rand Paul’s proposed amendment, R-Ky, to ensure that NATO guarantees to protect its members do not replace the official role of NATO. Congress in authorizing the use of military force. Paul, a longtime supporter of preventing the US from taking most military action abroad, voted “present” on approving Sweden and Finland’s membership bids.

The senators passed another amendment from Senator Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, which states that all NATO members should spend a minimum of 2% of their gross domestic product on defense and 20% their defense budget for major equipment, including research and development.

Each NATO member government must approve any new member to join. The process ran into unexpected trouble when Turkey raised concerns about adding Sweden and Finland, accusing them of being soft on banned Kurdish exile groups in Turkey. Turkey’s opposition still threatens the two countries’ membership.

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