US Senate approves Finland and Sweden's accession to NATO

Tags: International News

The United States Senate on 3 August approved Finland and Sweden's accession to NATO.

Important facts

• The US Senate voted 95 to one in favour of both Western European countries joining NATO.

• This historic vote provides an important indication of the continued, bipartisan US commitment to NATO.

• The Nordic countries, which had long maintained neutrality, had united to join a 30-member coalition in light of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

• Earlier the National Assembly of France voted in favor of Finland and Sweden's NATO membership.

• Several countries, including Germany, Canada and Italy, have already approved the ratification.

NATO membership process

• First a country must formally apply for NATO membership.

• The joining country must meet the criteria set out in NATO's 1995 "Study on Expansion". These criteria include a functioning democratic political system based on a market economy, the ability to make a military contribution to NATO, etc.

• A country can join NATO only if all its 30 member countries support its membership.

• A country can become a member of NATO after ratification of accession protocols, which may take 8 to 12 months.

• At present, Turkey has not agreed to give NATO membership to Finland and Sweden.

About North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) 

• NATO is an intergovernmental military alliance consisting of 30 member states belonging to Europe and North America (28 European states, the US and Canada).

• NATO aims to guarantee the security of its members through political and military means.

• According to Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, an armed attack against any NATO member in Europe or North America shall be deemed an attack against all NATO members.

• Article 5 has been invoked only once so far after the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the US.

• The last country to join NATO was North Macedonia in 2020.

• Headquarters- Brussels, Belgium