Bipartisan group of senators to travel to NATO summit in June

Amid Russia’s threats to Western nations in its war with Ukraine, a bipartisan delegation of senators will travel to Spain for the NATO summit in June, according to a Thursday statement. 

The group, led by Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), will represent the U.S. Senate in meetings with NATO allies and countries looking to join the alliance “to underscore U.S. support for NATO,” the lawmakers’ offices said in a statement. 

The trip comes as Finland has expressed a commitment to apply to join the alliance, with Sweden likely to follow, moves that Russia views as hostile and a threat to Moscow’s security.  

“At a time when democratic countries are threatened by authoritarian regimes, the Senate NATO Observer Group sends a strong bipartisan message of U.S. support for a robust and lasting transatlantic alliance,” Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement.  

“The United States Senate remains steadfast in our support for the people of Ukraine and the allied global response effort to hold [Russian President Vladimir Putin] accountable for his unprovoked, violent invasion of Ukraine.” 

Shaheen and Tillis, who serve as the co-chairs of the Senate North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Observer Group, will travel to Madrid from June 28 to 30. 

The group, which was reestablished in 2018 by the two lawmakers, consists of seven Democrats and seven Republicans and is meant to “monitor and inform Senators about the defense spending commitments of NATO members and provide updates on the process of upgrading military capabilities, NATO’s counter-terrorism capability, and NATO enlargement,” according to the statement.