There were 18 House Republicans that voted against a resolution on Monday that included support for Finland and Sweden in joining NATO as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan renewed his country's opposition to the Baltic countries joining the Western military alliance.
Despite the opposition of more than a dozen Republican lawmakers, the House passed the measure, which received bipartisan sponsorship, in a 394-18 vote. There were also two Democrats and 17 Republicans who did not vote on the measure.
House Republicans
The 18 Republicans who voted against the measure are Andy Biggs, Dan Bishop, Lauren Boebert, Madison Cawthorn, Ben Cline, Michael Cloud, Warren Davidson, Matt Gaetz, Bob Good, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Morgan Griffith, Thomas Massie, Tom McClintock, Mary Miller, Ralph Norman, Matt Rosendale, Chip Roy, and Jefferson Van Drew.
The passed measure specifically demonstrates support for the two Baltic countries in joining the alliance, which they applied to in May. It also urges member states to formally support their push to join NATO, as per The Hill.
Furthermore, the resolution opposes any attempts by the Russian Federation to adversely react to the decision by the two Nordic countries to join NATO and urges the military alliance to fulfill their 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) defense spending pledge that was agreed to at the 2014 Wales summit.
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The measure's passage came exactly two months after the two applicants expressed their intent to become members of the western military alliance. It also comes less than three weeks after NATO invited the two countries to join the group amid Russia's war against Ukraine.
According to the New York Post, on the other hand, Turkish President Erdogan renewed his country's opposition to the membership application of Finland and Sweden. He warned that he will block the application if promises are not kept to crack down on terrorist groups.
Turkey's Opposition
"I want to reiterate once again that we will freeze the process if these countries do not take the necessary steps to fulfill our conditions," Erdogan said. He noted that Sweden, in particular, did not have a "good image on this issue."
Finland and Sweden set aside decades of military neutrality during wartime due to Moscow's unprecedented invasion of Ukraine that began on Feb. 24. But Erdogan warned that the two nations were too lax in their stand against terrorists because they hosted Kurdish militants in their territories.
During the NATO summit in Madrid that was held in June, which was attended by United States President Joe Biden, the three countries reached an agreement on deporting or extraditing groups considered to be security threats. This includes members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party, and lift arms restrictions imposed after Turkey's 2019 military incursion into northern Syria.
Erdogan previously said that part of the agreement was for Sweden to extradite 73 people to Turkey so that they could face trial but the latter denied agreeing to any such measures. The Scandinavian nation has taken in people fleeing from persecution in Turkey as many of Erdogan's opponents have ended up in prison, DW News reported.
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