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INSIGHTi
NATO: Finland Joins as Sweden’s Accession
Faces Delay
Updated April 7, 2023
On April 4, 2023
, Finland acceded to NATO, enlarging the alliance to 31 members (see
Figure 1). Amid
heightened security concerns about Russia after its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, bot
h Finland and
Sweden applied to join NATO in May 2022 with the intention to accede to the alliance at the same time.
Sweden’s accession has been delayed by concerns raised by Turkey (Türkiye) and Hungary. T
he Biden
Administration and many
Members of Congress support NATO enlargement to both Finland and Sweden,
viewing the addition of these tw
o mature democracies wit
h advanced militaries a
s enhancing Euro-
Atlantic security and serving U.S. interests.
Finland, Sweden, and NATO Enlargement
Finland’s and Sweden’s applications to NATO marked a
historic shift for these traditionally militarily
nonaligned countries that
for decades sought to balance political, economic, and cultural ties to the West
and relations with Russia. After the Cold War, Finland and Sweden joined the European Union (EU) and
established close partnerships with NATO. Bot
h Finland and Sweden have participated in numerous
NATO operations and hav
e capable militaries that are interoperable with NATO. Public support for NATO
accession—and th
e added security of NATO’
s “Article 5” mutual defense clause—has skyrocketed in
both countries since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; as of mid- to late 2022, polls indicated support at
78%
in Finland and
64% in Sweden.
U.S. officials from the Departments of
State an
d Defense concur with
Finnish and Swedish assertions that
the two countries woul
d strengthen NATO’s defense posture, especially in the
Baltic Sea region. Finland
spends roughly 2% of its GDP on defense (
as called for by NATO) and plans to increase defense spending
in 2023; Sweden intends to meet NATO’s 2% defense spending goal
by 2026.
Some analysts have expressed concern about NATO’s ability to def
end Finland’s 830-mile border with
Russia (which doubles NATO’s overall borders with Russia)
. Finnish officials contend that Finland has
long defended its own borders and will continue to do so as a NATO member
. Finland and Sweden also
have strong traditions of societal resilience and substantial experience dealing with Russian
disinformation efforts, cyberattacks, and hybrid threats. Russia has largely sought to downplay concerns
about Finnish and Swedish accession to NATO, but
Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned NATO
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against deploying troops or expanding military infrastructure in either country. Following Finland’s
accession, Russian officials asserted they woul
d closely watch NATO’s use of Finnish territory.
NATO’s Accession Process and Current Status
All NATO allies must approve admitting new members. Allied governments unanimously agreed t
o invite
Finland and Sweden to join NATO at the alliance’s June 2022 Madrid Summit, following
a trilateral
agreement concluded to address security concerns raised by Turkey and gain Turkey’s support for the
formal start of NATO’s accession process. In July 2022, allied government
s signed protocols to NATO’s
founding
North Atlantic Treaty that must be ratified by each ally (according to national procedures) to
allow Finland and Sweden to join the alliance.
Twenty-eight of NATO’s then-30 allies concluded the ratification process for both Finland and Sweden
by
late September 2022. Turkey, however
, remained concerned about what it viewed as Swedish—and to a
lesser extent Finnish—support for terrorist groups, especially those linked to the Kurdistan Workers’ Party
(or PKK, a U.S.- and EU-designated terrorist organization). In mid-March 2023, Turkish President Recep
Tayyip Erdog
an announced that Turkey’s parliament would move to ratify Finland’s accession but not
Sweden’s yet. Turkey continues to press Sweden to grant Turkish
extradition requests and take a
harder
line against pro-Kurdish groups. Reasons for Hungary’s delay in ratifying Finnish and Swedish accession
ar
e more opaque but may
be linked to EU and Swedish criticisms of the Hungarian government’s respect
for the rule of law. Hungary’s parliament approved Finland’s accession
on March 27, but officials
announced that a vote on Sweden’s accession would be held
“later.” Turkey’s parliament approved
Finland’s accessio
n on March 30.
Swedish and NATO officials maintain that Sweden is fulfilling it
s obligations under the aforementioned
trilateral agreement and that Sweden’s accession i
s not a question of “whether” but “when.” Sweden’s
government hopes that
a proposed new law against participating in or otherwise supporting terrorist
organizations will be finalized in June and will
convince Turkey to proceed with ratifying Sweden’s
accession (movement by Turkey to approve Sweden’s membershi
p could prompt Hungary to do
likewise). NATO leader
s hope Sweden will be able to join the alliance by NATO’s July 11-12, 2023,
summit in Lithuania.
Some experts suggest a long delay in finalizing Sweden’s accession could make the
alliance appear weak and divided and could complicate NATO defense planning.
Role of Congress and U.S. Policy
In the United States, once NATO members sign accession protocols, the Administration sends them to the
Senate for its advice and consent as part of the ratification process (See CRS Report 98-
384, Senate
Consideration of Treaties). President Bid
en submitted accession protocols for Finland and Sweden to the
Senate on July 11, 2022. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee subsequently
reported favorably on the
resolution of ratification, and the full Senate approved it on August 3, 2022, by
a vote of 95-1. President
Biden signed the accession protocols for both Finland and Sweden on August 9, 2022, completing the
U.S. approval process. In the 117th Congress, the House passed a resolution of support for Finland and
Sweden’s NATO accession
(H.Res. 1130). In February 2023, a group of
29 Senators sent a letter to
President Biden asserting that Turkey’s delay in approving Finnish and Swedish NATO accession
“threatens the Alliance’s unity at a key moment in history.”
The United States and NATO hav
e enhanced security cooperation and conduct
ed more joint training
exercises with both Sweden and Finland over the past year, in part to provi
de reassurance during the
period before accession.
The Biden Administration continues to urge Turkey and Hungary to ratify
Sweden’s membership
“without delay.”
Congressional Research Service
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Figure 1. NATO Members and Aspirants
Source: CRS Graphics. Map updated April 2023.
Congressional Research Service
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Author Information
Kristin Archick
Andrew S. Bowen
Specialist in European Affairs
Analyst in Russian and European Affairs
Paul Belkin
Analyst in European Affairs
Disclaimer
This document was prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS). CRS serves as nonpartisan shared staff
to congressional committees and Members of Congress. It operates solely at the behest of and under the direction of
Congress. Information in a CRS Report should not be relied upon for purposes other than public understanding of
information that has been provided by CRS to Members of Congress in connection with CRS’s institutional role.
CRS Reports, as a work of the United States Government, are not subject to copyright protection in the United
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