Senator Collins Meets with NATO Leaders During 75th Anniversary Summit
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Washington, D.C. – Last week, U.S. Senator Susan Collins and a bipartisan group of 14 of her Senate colleagues met with North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) leaders who were in the nation’s capital for the 2024 NATO Summit. This year’s summit marked the 75th Anniversary of the alliance, which began in 1949 as a check on the threat posed by the Soviet Union to our North Atlantic allies. The meeting was hosted by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Foreign leaders in attendance at the meeting included NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz, the newly-elected Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Keir Starmer, as well as leaders from the two newest alliance member nations, the Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson, and the President of Finland Alexander Stubb.
“Meeting with the leaders of NATO nations along with Secretary General Stoltenberg reinvigorated our shared commitment to the alliance,” said Senator Collins. “It was a pleasure to welcome representatives from both Finland and Sweden together for the first time at an annual summit, as these nations will play a vital role in supporting Ukraine and deterring further Russian aggression. During our discussions, we emphasized the importance of strengthening European contributions to NATO and preparing for future challenges facing the alliance.”
In 2022, Senator Collins joined a bipartisan group of 80 Senators in sending a letter to President Biden, urging him to expedite the Executive Branch’s process to advance Sweden and Finland’s applications for NATO membership and pledging to work with the Administration to ensure swift ratification of the Washington Treaty.
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