NATO Ambassadors signed the Accession Protocols for Finland and Sweden at NATO Headquarters on July 5, 2022, in the presence of Finnish Foreign Minister Pekka Haavisto and Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde.
The Accession Protocols now move to the Alliance’s 30 members for national ratification according to the procedures of the various nations. In the United States, this means the Senate will have to ratify the addition of those countries to the Washington Treaty of 1949.
Finland and Sweden have been close partners of NATO for many years, but Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine in February shifted the ground in Europe, leading to those nations – both historically neutral – to petition to join NATO. At NATO Summit in Madrid in June, Allied leaders agreed to invite Finland and Sweden to join the Alliance.