U.S. Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) and 15 of his colleagues on May 18 introduced a bipartisan resolution urging acceptance of the applications of Finland and Sweden to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).
House Resolution (H.Res.) 1130, which is sponsored by U.S. Rep. Bill Keating (D-MA), has 15 original cosponsors, including Rep. Turner and U.S. Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Ann Wagner (R-MO), Vern Buchanan (R-FL), Michael McCaul (R-TX), and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL).
If enacted, the resolution also calls on all members of NATO to swiftly ratify the protocols of accession, according to the text of the resolution, which notes that the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO requires all 30 allies to sign and ratify protocols of accession.
“We are united in our support of these two critical applications. Finland and Sweden embody the democratic values that NATO was founded upon in the Washington Treaty, and their accession to the Trans-Atlantic Alliance will strengthen regional security,” Rep. Turner and the lawmakers said in a joint statement released on May 20. “What Vladimir Putin will never understand is that an alliance is born of mutual respect and cooperation not fear and intimidation. NATO will always be stronger because our nations want to stand together.”
Finland and Sweden, which are historically neutral countries, formally applied to NATO on May 18, shifting their defense policy as the Russian Federation continued its unprovoked war against Ukraine, according to information released by Rep. Turner’s staff.
The text of H.Res. 1130 states that Russia’s invasion “has fomented the worst European humanitarian crisis since World War II” with six million people fleeing Ukraine and 10 million more internally displaced within Ukraine.
At the same time, the bill says that Russian government officials have issued threats directed at Finland and Sweden should they exercise their sovereign right to apply for NATO membership.
“Despite these threats from Russia, Finland and Sweden’s national institutions have reviewed their policies of military nonalignment and their governments and parliaments have expressed support for applying for NATO membership,” the text says, concluding that the U.S. House of Representatives “calls on the member states of NATO to formally support the accession of Finland and Sweden into the transatlantic alliance.”