US Senate votes 95 to 1 on Sweden, Finland NATO accession
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After Wednesday's Senate vote, Biden's administration will formally submit the US approval.
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US Senate conducts the "fastest" process for a NATO protocol since 1981.
The US Senate voted 95 to 1 to ratify Finland and Sweden's NATO application to join the alliance on On Wednesday, reaching the two-thirds threshold needed for approval.
In order for the applications to be accepted, all 30 NATO members must unanimously approve the application. Both countries have been neutral for decades before applying for membership, which was instigated after the war in Ukraine started.
Helsinki and Stockholm were on their way to joining NATO before Turkey decided to use its veto power, enforcing its conditions.
Read more: Turkey's demands to NATO
After the Senate vote, Biden's administration will formally submit US approval for the accession. Josh Hawley, a Republican senator, was the only one to vote against the measure.
After the vote, Biden praised the vote, describing it as "the fastest Senate process for a NATO protocol since 1981."
"This historic vote sends an important signal of the sustained, bipartisan US commitment to NATO, and to ensuring our Alliance is prepared to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow," Biden said.
Read more: Biden sends letter to Congress on Sweden, Finland admission to NATO
"I look forward to signing the accession protocols and welcoming Sweden and Finland, two strong democracies with highly capable militaries, into the greatest defensive alliance in history," he added.
This month, a new "permanent committee" assembled by Turkey will meet with Finnish and Swedish officials to review whether the two countries are meeting Ankara's conditions for ratifying their NATO membership aspirations.
Turkey has been threatening to halt the accession process
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to "halt" the accession process if Sweden and Finland do not extradite the accused. He accuses them of harboring outlawed Kurdish militants.
"If these countries are not implementing the points included in the memorandum that we signed, we will not ratify the accession protocol," Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu reaffirmed in a televised interview.
Ankara threatened to stall the process of Sweden and Finland joining NATO. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stressed, "I repeat once again that if our demands are not met the process will be slowed down. We see that especially Sweden does not show the proper reaction."
On June 15, Turkey rejected NATO's offer to hold trilateral talks with Finland and Sweden. On July 10, Sweden made a list of 10 Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) members to extradite to Turkey following the signature of a memorandum in Madrid.
