China News Service, August 4 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate voted 95 in favor and 1 against on the 3rd local time to approve Finland and Sweden's application to join NATO, according to a Reuters report.
On January 24, 2022, the NATO Secretary General and the foreign ministers of Finland and Sweden attended a press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels.
It was previously reported that Finland and Sweden formally submitted their applications to NATO in May. Representatives of 30 NATO member states held a signing ceremony at the NATO headquarters in Brussels on July 5 to sign the protocol for Finland and Sweden to join the treaty.
According to the protocol, after the NATO member states sign the Fenrir accession protocol, the next step is to ratify the protocol by the parliaments of all member states.
NATO Secretary-General Stoltenberg said that while waiting for member states to ratify the protocol, Finland and Switzerland will participate in NATO operations as "invited countries".