President Joe Biden on Thursday offered the “strong support” of the United States to Finland and Sweden in the two historically neutral Nordic nations’ bids to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.
Speaking in the White House Rose Garden alongside Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson and Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, Mr Biden said he and his advisers have been closely consulting with both leaders “at every stage” as each determined whether to join the alliance in the wake of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
“Today I’m proud to assure them that they have the full, total complete backing of the United States of America,” said Mr Biden, who added that his administration will submit to Congress the reports required for the Senate to ratify both countries’ accessions to Nato.
“Sweden and Finland have strong democratic institutions, strong militaries and strong and transparent economies and a strong moral sense of what is right,” he said. “They meet every NATO requirement, and then some having two new NATO members in the High North will enhance the security of our alliances and deepen our security cooperation across the board”.
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