Even as troubles mount at home, President Joe Biden is leaving for a trying trip abroad.
Biden will spend July 9 and 10 in London, meeting with King Charles III and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, before a crucial trip to Vilnius, Lithuania, for NATO meetings amid the war in Ukraine. A related final stop, on July 13, will be in Helsinki to meet with Nordic leaders.
"The location certainly is interesting," Victoria Coates, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation, said. “The Baltic nations were freed from Soviet domination when it collapsed. They take this all very seriously.” A big goal for the trip will be securing that Finland's western neighbor, Sweden, joins NATO as well. That deal has been in the works for months, with objections from Turkey and Hungary holding up the process.
Another significant development from this week was the extension of NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg for another term, which Biden said signals the alliance"is stronger, more united and purposeful than it has ever been." Sweden would become the 32nd NATO member.
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