The Diplomat
Spain’s Ambassador to the United States, Santiago Cabanas, presented the instruments of ratification approving the accession of Finland and Sweden to NATO this past Wednesday at the U.S. State Department.
“We are firmly committed to NATO and to European and Euro-Atlantic security, and we welcome this important step in strengthening the Alliance,” the Spanish Embassy in Washington reported on its official Twitter account.
Last September, the two Chambers of Parliament authorized the signing of the Protocols to the North Atlantic Treaty on the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO. In Congress, the text was approved with the votes in favor of PSOE, Partido Popular, Vox, Ciudadanos, PNV, PDeCat and JxCAT and the abstention of the other government partner, Unidas Podemos, in addition to the Minister of Consumer Affairs and federal coordinator of IU, Alberto Garzón. In the Senate, given that none of the parties that had voted ‘no’ in Congress is represented in the Upper House, the text went ahead with a very large majority of votes in favor, with the only abstentions of ERC, Bildu and some parties of the Confederal Left (Más Madrid, Compromís and Més). Unidas Podemos has no representation in the Senate.
The two countries presented their membership application last May to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, and their entry was agreed at the end of June, during the Alliance Summit in Madrid. The permanent representatives of the 30 allies (including Spain) signed the accession protocols for the two countries on July 5 in Brussels, after which they must be ratified by the parliaments of all NATO member states as a necessary condition for Finland and Sweden to join the Alliance. The US Congress followed suit on August 9.
