US Senate approves NATO resolution for Sweden, Finland entry: Chair

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
20 Jul 2022 08:25

The US Senate took the first step toward admitting Sweden and Finland to NATO on Tuesday, with bipartisan support for the new alliance members.

View of the U.S. Senate chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., February 9, 2021. (US Senate TV/Handout via Reuters)

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved NATO accession protocols for Sweden and Finland on Tuesday, according to the panel's Chairman, Robert Menendez.

“SFRC [Senate Foreign Relations Committee] approves NATO protocols resolution for Sweden & Finland, fulfilling our duty to help determine how, when & with whom the US brings to bear the power of our diplomatic & military alliance. Their membership will be a force multiplier for stability & democracy,” Menendez said on Twitter.

On Monday evening, the US House of Representatives passed a resolution supporting Finland and Sweden's NATO membership by a vote of 394 to 18.

However, only the Senate has the authority to ratify new NATO members. Furthermore, each member state of the military alliance must ratify Sweden and Finland's accession.

Moreover, earlier in May, Matteo Salvini, the leader of the right-wing party Lega Nord in Italy's ruling coalition, criticized the decision of Sweden and Finland to apply to join NATO, saying the move should be postponed.

What's the story?

Finland and Sweden applied for NATO membership in May, ending decades of neutrality in the face of Russia's special military operation in Ukraine. Turkey initially blocked their membership bids, accusing them of supporting "terrorists," referring to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK). After the country leaders met in Madrid in June and agreed to address Ankara's concerns, Turkey promised to withdraw its objections.

Erdogan stated that if Turkey agrees to the Nordic states’ bid for joining NATO, then it will no longer “be a security organization, but will become a place where there will be many representatives of terrorists." In other words, Turkey cannot give NATO a unanimous vote to accept the bids as that would threaten its national security, as to the Turkish President.

Erdogan has refused to allow both countries to join NATO without primarily taking into consideration their support for the Kurdistan Workers' Party and Kurdish YPG, both of which were designated as terror groups by Ankara.