Transatlantic Relations ahead of the Washington Summit with NATO Observer Group Cochairs Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Thom Tillis – Hudson Institute

United States Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) have served as cochairs of the bipartisan Senate North Atlantic Treaty Organization Observer Group since its reestablishment in 2018. The two senators have been outspoken in their support for the alliance, including NATO’s recent round of enlargement to Sweden and Finland. Both have also been stalwart in their support of Ukraine. As they wrote to President Joe Biden in April, “We believe Ukraine should be offered a realistic path to NATO membership once all NATO Alliance members agree that Ukraine has met the conditions and requirements for membership.” Additionally, the senators have underscored the importance of burden sharing, which they reinforced in a letter last month urging Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to increase his country’s defense spending. They have supported the idea, acknowledged at the NATO summit in Vilnius last year, that spending 2 percent of gross domestic product on defense should be the floor—not the ceiling—for members. Please join Senior Fellow Peter Rough for a discussion with the senators on NATO, Ukraine, the Black Sea region, and transatlantic relations just weeks before the Washington summit.