WASHINGTON, May 8: The United States on Thursday formally backed NATO’s expansion, with the Senate voting unanimously to add seven Eastern European nations to the military alliance.

The US Senate voted 96-0 to add Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Foreign ministers of the countries and US NATO Ambassador Nicholas Burns watched the voting before a scheduled meeting later with US President George W. Bush as NATO struggles to reshape and revive the alliance amid differences over the US-led war to oust Saddam Hussein from Iraq. The US House of Representatives does not have to vote on the protocol. Canada and Norway are the only other countries to ratify the expansion, which must be approved by all 19 member nations.

“This is historic for these seven countries, vital in continuing to strengthen the North Atlantic alliance,” said Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar.

“Many observers will point to the split over Iraq as a sign that NATO is failing or irrelevant. I disagree,” the Indiana Republican said, adding he was confident US support for NATO expansion would help repair relations with allies.

He said the Senate acted early in the year in hopes of nudging other NATO members to endorse the expansion.

Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican who accused France of “pursuing a systematic campaign to undermine American leadership in Europe and the world” with efforts to block the Iraq war, said the United States received “significant political and logistical support” from the seven nations.—Reuters