President Joe Biden on Thursday stood alongside his Swedish and Finnish counterparts to endorse their countries’ entry into NATO, a move in defiance of Russian President Vladimir Putin as the White House formally started the Senate’s review of the proposed expansion.
Biden’s enthusiastic embrace of the two Nordic countries puts him in rare alignment with some congressional Republicans. That list includes his old government shutdown-averting negotiating partner: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. The pair would need to team up once again to secure the votes in the Senate to ratify a new round of alliance growth.
Biden said it was a “momentous day,” calling Sweden and Finland “two capable partners,” and noting that their troops “already serve shoulder-to-shoulder with U.S. troops” across the globe. “This is a victory for democracy in action.”
