President Biden hosted Finnish President Sauli Niinistö and Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson at the White House Thursday to promote their bids to join the NATO alliance.

“It’s a very, very good day,” Biden said in the Rose Garden, flanked by the two Nordic leaders.

“Today I’m proud to welcome and offer the strong support of the United States for the applications of two great democracies and two close, highly capable partners to join the strongest, most powerful defensive alliance in the history of the world,” Biden said.

The president said he was sending the Senate the necessary paperwork to approve the Swedish and Finnish bids to become US treaty allies — a move supported by the leadership of both political parties.

The two longtime neutral states applied to join NATO this week in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Niinistö, whose sparsely populated nation lost much of its land to Russia in World War II, said in the Rose Garden that “Russia’s war in Ukraine has changed Europe and our security environment.”

“Finland takes the step of NATO membership in order to strengthen not only its own security, but also in order to strengthen wider transatlantic security,” he added.

Niinistö went on to praise the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for fighting off Russia’s invasion, which began on Feb. 24. Zelensky had sought to join NATO ahead of the conflict.

“At this very moment, the brave people of Ukraine are fighting not only for their own freedom and democracy, but for our common security,” he said.

Andersson said, “After 200 years of military non-alignment, Sweden has chosen a new path,” referring to her nation’s neutrality since the Napoleonic Wars, in which Sweden lost Finland to Russia before the Finns gained independence about 100 years later.

“Today, the situation in Ukraine reminds us of the darkest days of European history. And I must say that during dark times, it is great to be among close friends,” Andersson said.

“Russia’s full-scale aggression against a sovereign and democratic neighbor — that was a watershed moment for Sweden. And my government has come to the conclusion that the security of the Swedish people will be best protected within the NATO alliance. And this is backed by very broad support in the Swedish parliament.”

Biden didn’t directly mention Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s objections to Sweden and Finland joining NATO, but both visiting leaders sought to assuage the autocratic leader.

Erdogan has said he opposes Finland and Sweden joining NATO and all current members must agree on admitting new states into the 30-member bloc.

“Neither country has an open, clear stance against terrorist organizations,” Erdogan said this week in reference to Kurdish activists, adding, “Are they coming to try and convince us? Sorry don’t wear yourselves out.”

Biden on Wednesday brushed off Erdogan’s objection, saying, “I think we’re gonna be okay.”

Niinistö said in the Rose Garden that “Finland has always had proud and good bilateral relations to Turkey. As NATO allies, we will commit to Turkey’s security, just as Turkey will commit to our security. We take terrorism seriously. We condemn terrorism in all its forms and we are actively engaged in combating it.”

He added, “We are open to discussing all the concerns Turkey may have concerning our membership in an open and constructive manner.”

“We are right now having a dialogue with all NATO member countries, including Turkey on different levels to sort out any issues at hand,” Andersson chimed in.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Wednesday with Turkish foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan phoned his Turkish counterpart to try to sway Turkey to support the NATO expansion.