President Joe Biden formally welcomed Finland and Sweden to join the NATO alliance Tuesday as he signed the instruments of ratification that gave formal U.S. support to the Nordic nations entering the alliance. mutual defense pact, part of a reshaping of the European security posture after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. .
“In seeking to join NATO, Finland and Sweden are making the sacred commitment that an attack against one is an attack against all,” Biden said at the signing as he called the partnership “the indispensable alliance.”
The US became the 23rd ally to approve the two countries’ NATO membership. Biden said he spoke with the heads of both nations before signing the ratification and urged the remaining NATO members to finish their own ratification process “as soon as possible.”
The Senate last week approved the two previously unaligned nations to join the alliance in a rare 95-1 vote that Biden said showed the world that “the United States of America can still great things’ with a sense of political unity.
The countries sought NATO membership earlier this year to ensure their security after Russian President Vladimir Putin’s offensive in Ukraine. North Atlantic Treaty Organization rules require consent from all 30 of its existing members before Finland and Sweden can officially join the alliance, which is expected in the coming months.
The bids of the two prosperous northern European nations have won the ratification of more than half of NATO’s member nations in the roughly three months since they both came forward. It marks one of the fastest expansions of the mutual defense pact between the United States and democratic allies in Europe in its 73-year history.
US State and Defense officials consider the two countries to be net “security providers”, strengthening NATO’s defense posture in the Baltics in particular. Finland is expected to exceed NATO’s gross domestic product defense spending target by 2022, and Sweden has pledged to meet the 2% target.
Sweden and Finland applied to join NATO in May, abandoning their long-standing stance of military non-alignment. It was a major change in security arrangements for the two countries after neighboring Russia launched its war in Ukraine in late February. Biden encouraged them to come together and welcomed the two countries’ heads of government to the White House in May, standing side by side in a show of American support.
The US and its European allies have come together in a new partnership in the face of Putin’s military invasion, as well as the Russian leader’s strong statements this year condemning NATO, issuing veiled reminders of Russia’s nuclear arsenal and affirming the Russia’s historical claims on the territory of many of its neighbors.