Earlier this month, senators voted 95-1 for Finland and Sweden to join, giving the United States, 23rd out of 30 NATO countries, official support.
“Just a few months ago, I welcomed the President of Finland and the Prime Minister of Sweden to the White House to show the strong support of the United States for both countries’ decision to seek NATO membership,” Joe Biden said, speaking to a spokesman. .
Biden praised Finland and Sweden, saying they both have strong democratic institutions, strong militaries and strong and open economies, which would help strengthen NATO.
Before the ceremony, the White House said the US president spoke with the prime minister Magdalena Andersson of Sweden and the president Sauli Niinistö From Finland.
“President Biden congratulated them on the US Senate’s swift and bipartisan ratification of their NATO accession protocol and welcomed Finland and Sweden’s step closer to becoming NATO allies,” the statement said.
The President of the United States confirmed that the United States will work with Finland and Sweden to remain vigilant against all threats to our common security and to prevent and confront aggression or the threat of aggression.
Previously, the 30 allies of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) signed the accession protocols of Sweden and Finland, which started the process of admitting the two Nordic countries into the alliance.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Finland Pekka Haavisto and the Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde attended the signing ceremony.”With 32 countries around the table, we will be even stronger and our peoples will be safer as we face the biggest security crisis in decades,” said the NATO Secretary General. Jens Stoltenberg at a press conference after the signing ceremony.
NATO’s 30 member states formally invited Finland and Sweden to join the alliance at a NATO summit in Madrid, Spain, just seven weeks after both countries submitted their applications in response to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Firstly, NATO member Turkey, concerned about the fight against terrorism, blocked the accession process, but after signing a memorandum of understanding with Finland and Sweden, Turkey removed its veto against NATO Madrid. meeting.
The next step was for the parliaments of all 30 NATO member countries to ratify the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO in accordance with their own national procedures. The USA has approved the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO, and now it’s time to see if all the other countries share the same position.
HT
Source: ANI
Source: The Nordic Page