Making their appeal on behalf of the U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control treaty, the foreign ministers of Denmark, Norway, Latvia, Bulgaria, Hungary and Lithuania crashed a Saturday press conference by a senior U.S. administration official about talks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. While President Barack Obama has said ratifying the treaty should be a top priority for Congress, key Republican senators have said they don’t think a vote on it should be held before the new Congress convenes in January.

Danish Foreign Minister Lene Espersen said she spearheaded the media blitz to “make the Republican Party aware of how important this is.”

“If (New) START is not ratified, it will have a real impact on European security,” she said. “We hope we can sign it as soon as possible.”