U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, U.S. August 2, 2022. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/File Photo
Washington: The US Senate has approved the accession of Sweden and Finland to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), in the largest expansion of the alliance since the 1990s.
The Senate vote was 95 to 1, in favor of the accession of the two Scandinavian countries, making the United States the 23rd out of 30 members of the alliance to officially approve the accession.
Before accession protocols come into force, they must be ratified by all 30 NATO members, two-thirds of which have already given their approval, to the new members.
Last May, Sweden and Finland applied for NATO membership in response to the Russian military operation in Ukraine launched since Feb. 24.
