Washington, DC – Congressmen Mike Turner (R-OH), Vice-Chair of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Parliamentary Assembly, and Gerry Connolly (D-VA), Chairman of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, called upon senior officials at the Department of State and Defense, and top members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, to expeditiously approve Finland and Sweden's application to join NATO.
In the letter, the members wrote:
"The Russian Federation's unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine, an independent, peaceful, and democratic country, demonstrates the need for effective deterrence. Additionally, an increasingly aggressive posture from Russia toward both countries make expedited action by the Administration and ratification of the accession protocols by the Senate an imperative... As members of NATO, Finland and Sweden, would enhance the military capabilities of the alliance and serve to increase the deterrent effect of the alliance against an increasingly aggressive Russia."
Congressmen Turner and Connolly were joined by 187 of their colleagues. Read the full bipartisan letter here.
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