Shaheen, Tillis Introduce Bipartisan Resolution to Encourage NATO Members to Fulfill Commitment on Defense Spending
(Washington, DC) - U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Thom Tillis (R-NC), Co-Chairs of the U.S. Senate NATO Observer Group, recently introduced a bipartisan resolution to help bolster the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and increase burden sharing amongst members of the Alliance. The resolution commends Allies for adopting the regional family of plans during the 2023 NATO Summit in Vilnius, recognizes that Allies have substantially increased defense spending for nine consecutive years, and calls on Allies who have not yet met the 2 percent commitment to make plans to do so.
“NATO Allies have stepped up alongside the United States with unwavering support for Ukraine in its fight for freedom against Russia’s unprovoked invasion,” said Shaheen. “NATO is world’s preeminent Alliance and it’s stronger now than ever before. I commend the Allies who have fulfilled the commitment to spend 2 percent of GDP on defense and this bipartisan resolution will urge other nations to make concrete plans to do so.”
“As the NATO Alliance faces continued aggression from Russia in Ukraine, provocation from China, and other rising threats, it is more important than ever that the partner nations commit to reaching the two percent goals with the United States so we can continue to bolster and strengthen the Alliance,” said Tillis. “Russia’s aggression has unified our allies and partners against the threat to democracy, and as co-chair of the Senate NATO Observer Group, I am proud to work with Senator Shaheen and my colleagues to show the Senate’s commitment to that effort.”
Along with Shaheen and Tillis, U.S. Senators Van Hollen (D-MD), Coons (D-DE), King (I-ME), Merkley (D-OR), Rounds (R-SD), Rosen (D-NV), Barrasso (R-WY), Ricketts (R-NE) and Booker (D-NJ) also signed on as cosponsors.
In 2006, NATO Defense Ministers agreed to commit a minimum of 2 percent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to defense spending to ensure the Alliance's military readiness. The resolution highlights the existing burden sharing across the Alliance while urging Allies who are working to meet the 2 percent defense spending commitment to do so. The bipartisan resolution also stipulates that the next Secretary General of NATO should be from a country already meeting the 2 percent commitment, or with concrete plans to do so soon, and calls for Türkiye and Hungary to ratify Sweden’s accession to NATO without further delay.
The Senate NATO Observer Group, re-established by co-chairs Shaheen and Tillis in 2018, has an expanded mission to closely monitor and inform Senators outside of national security committees about defense spending commitments of Alliance members, the process of upgrading military capabilities, the Alliance’s counter-terrorism capability, NATO enlargement and the ability of NATO member states to address unconventional warfare threats. Shaheen is a leading voice in U.S.-European relations as well as American foreign policy in the Black Sea region. Shaheen and Tillis recently met with the Turkish delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly to commend Türkiye’s contributions to NATO and European security and call on Türkiye’s to swiftly approve NATO accession protocols for Sweden. Earlier this year, Shaheen and Tillis also led a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers in a joint statement of support and a letter to President Biden calling for Finland and Sweden’s swift accession into NATO in response to the respective nations announcing their intent to join the transatlantic Alliance.
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