US Senate on Wednesday, August 3rd, approved NATO Membership for Sweden, Finland by a vote of 95-1. Thus sending a strong message of support for expanding the Western alliance against Russia, reports broadcaster Voice of America (VOA).
The United States is one of 30 NATO member countries that will have to approve Sweden’s and Finland’s admission.
The usually lengthy process for admission has been fast-tracked in the U.S. Senate as part of a robust response to Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.
Prior to the vote, Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Menendez said the Senate vote would send a powerful condemn to Russian aggression in Ukraine.
IT is a signal to the world that NATo will unite against those who seek to destabilize the supply of food and who think they can simply invade a neighbor with no consequences, said Menendez.
«The NATO vote is a very important vote — for American security around the world: Finland’s and Sweden’s membership will strengthen NATO even further and is all the more urgent given Russian aggression, given Putin’s immoral and unjustified war in Ukraine. Putin is strengthening the NATO alliance,» Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Wednesday, August 3rd.
But Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who cast the only vote against the ratification, said the approval was not in the interests of U.S. foreign policy.
According to him, there are priorities on which to focus — to do less in Europe, in order to prioritize America’s most pressing national security interest, which is in Asia, with regard to China.