The US Senate is scheduled to discuss NATO expansion late Monday Finnish time. French and Italian ratifications are expected on Tuesday.
Republican senator representing the state of Missouri in the United States Senate Josh Hawley announced on Monday that he intends to vote against the NATO membership of Finland and Sweden.
According to Hawley, the biggest external adversary of the United States is China and not Russia. According to Hawley, European NATO countries and those aspiring to become members should spend more money on their own defense.
In Hawley’s opinion, it is completely understandable that Finland and Sweden want to become NATO members. However, he believes that expanding the security commitments of the United States in Europe would weaken the country’s security. According to Hawley, the United States is not strong enough in Asia because it has invested too much in defending Europe.
– The United States cannot defeat China and Russia in two simultaneous major wars, the senator writes.
According to Hawley, Finland and Sweden are developed economies with high-performance defenses.
– But they have not made commitments corresponding to their geostrategic location. Sweden will not increase its defense spending to two percent of GDP for many years. And Finland, although it has increased its spending one-time, has not made it clear whether it intends to continue at this level.
According to Hawley, in the event of a war, the United States would probably have to defend both Finland and Sweden.
The ratification of Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership is on the Senate’s agenda in Monday afternoon’s session, US time.
The ratification of NATO expansion is to be discussed on Tuesday in the parliaments of Italy and France. 20 of the NATO countries have already ratified NATO’s expansion.
Paul wants NATO’s Article 5 not to automatically guarantee US aid to another member country, but to require a congressional decision.
A two-thirds majority in the Senate is required for the approval of Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership. Both countries’ applications have near-unanimous support among both Republican and Democratic senators.