The U.S. Senate approved on Wednesday Finland and Sweden's accession to NATO, the most significant expansion of the 30-member alliance since the 1990s, Trend reports citing Reuters.
The Senate voted 95 to 1 to support ratification of the two countries' accession documents, easily surpassing the two-thirds majority of 67 votes required to support ratification of the two countries' accession documents.
NATO's 30 allies signed the accession protocol for them last month, allowing them to join the U.S.-led nuclear-armed alliance once its members ratify the decision. read more
At that point, Helsinki and Stockholm were able to participate in NATO meetings and have greater access to intelligence, but were not protected by Article Five, the NATO defense clause stating that an attack on one ally is an attack against all.
The accession must be ratified by the parliaments of all 30 North Atlantic Treaty Organization members before Finland and Sweden can be protected by the defense clause.
Ratification could take up to a year, although it has already been approved by a few countries, including Canada, Germany and Italy.
Senators from both parties strongly endorsed membership for the two countries, describing them as important allies whose modern militaries already worked closely with NATO.