NATO

About NATO

What is NATO?

Established in the aftermath of World War II, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an intergovernmental military alliance between 28 European countries and 2 North American countries and is headquartered in Belgium.

It implements the North Atlantic Treaty, which is a system of collective security, where its member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party.

The most recent member to be added was North Macedonia on March 27, 2020. Since its founding on April 4, 1949, the admission of new member states has increased the alliance from the original 12 countries to 30.

BACKGROUND

In the event of a possible attack by Germany, a Treaty of Alliance and Mutual Assistance was signed by France and the United Kingdom in 1947. Later next year, the alliance was expanded to include Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg, in the form of the Western Union.

In 1949, talks for the new military alliance which would include North America resulted in the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty. The Treaty included the members of the Western Union and the United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Iceland.

In May 1955, West Germany was permitted to rearm militarily, as they joined Nato, which was a major factor in the creation of the Soviet Union-dominated Warsaw Pact, delineating the two opposing sides of the Cold War.

In October 1990, East Germany became part of the Federal Republic of Germany and the alliance, and in November 1990, the alliance signed the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) in Paris with the Soviet Union.

The treaty mandated specific military reductions across Europe, which continued after the collapse of the Warsaw Pact in February 1991 and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, which removed the de facto main adversaries of Nato.

The Treaty was largely dormant until the Korean War initiated the establishment of Nato to implement it, by means of an integrated military structure, which included the formation of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in 1951, adopting the Western Union's military structures and plans.

PURPOSE OF NATO

According to Nato, its purpose is to guarantee the freedom and security of its members through political and military means. By political, it means the organisation promotes democratic values and enables members to consult and cooperate on defence and security-related issues to solve problems, build trust and, in the long run, prevent conflict.

Militarily, Nato says it is committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes, and if diplomatic efforts fail, it has the power to undertake crisis-management operations, under the collective defence clause - Article 5 of the Washington Treaty or under a United Nations mandate, alone or in cooperation with other countries.

Article 5 of the North Atlantic treaty, requiring member states to come to the aid of any member state subject to an armed attack, was invoked for the first and only time after the September 11 attacks, after which troops were deployed to Afghanistan.

THE ROLE OF NATO IN RUSSIA-UKRAINE CONFLICT

Among the 30 countries in the organisation, Ukraine is not a member, even though it has included three former Soviet republics -- the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.

In 2008, Nato appeared to open the door to membership to two more former Soviet republics when its heads of government declared that Georgia and Ukraine "will become members of Nato."

Neither has formally received eventual membership, with a lack of consensus among members. Russian President Vladimir Putin demanded that Ukraine never join the alliance as he seeks to limit Nato’s presence in Eastern Europe.

Days before Putin announced a military operation in Ukraine in February 2022, he in a televised address linked the current crisis directly to Russia's Nato demands, which include a guarantee that the organisation stops expanding to the East and pull back its infrastructure from Eastern European countries that joined after the Cold War.

If the conflict goes beyond Ukraine and impacts Nato members, it could lead the organisation to invoke its mutual self-defence clause, i.e, Article 5 of the Nato treaty.

Latest Updates on NATO

Finland unlikely to get NATO battle group given its defence capabilities

NATO has established 8 multinational battle groups in Poland and the Baltic nations, and more recently in Hungary, Slovakia, Bulgaria and Romania, to serve as a "tripwire" in case of Russian attack

Updated On: 05 Apr 2023 | 7:57 AM IST

Finland becomes NATO member as Russia warns of 'counter-measures'

In Russia's opinion, the expansion of NATO infringes on its security and national interests

Updated On: 05 Apr 2023 | 7:09 AM IST

Premium

Finland's Nato moment

A snub for Putin, a risk for Europe

Updated On: 17 Apr 2023 | 6:03 PM IST

Finland's parliamentary website targeted ahead of NATO entry: Report

Finland's parliamentary website was paralysed by a denial-of-service attack on Tuesday, just before the country made its historic entry into NATO

Updated On: 04 Apr 2023 | 7:16 PM IST

Finland becomes member of Nato, Russia threatens 'counter-measures'

Finland's accession roughly doubles the length of the border that Nato shares with Russia and bolsters its eastern flank as the war in Ukraine grinds on with no resolution in sight

Updated On: 04 Apr 2023 | 10:58 PM IST

In setback to Putin, Finland set to officially become NATO member

Finland is set to officially become a member of NATO later on Tuesday and take its place among the ranks of the world's biggest security alliance

Updated On: 04 Apr 2023 | 2:38 PM IST

Finland's membership will make alliance stronger: NATO General Secretary

In a video shared by the official Twitter account of NATO Spokesperson, Oana Lungescu, the NATO General Secretary, Jens Stoltenberg, is heard welcoming and congratulating Finland

Updated On: 31 Mar 2023 | 5:55 PM IST

Premium

As Finland plans to join Nato, a look at how countries join the alliance

Nato's membership has increased from 12 to 30 countries through eight rounds of enlargement. The Republic of North Macedonia became the latest country to join Nato on March 27, 2020

Updated On: 31 Mar 2023 | 1:09 PM IST

NATO, US forces join Romania-led Black Sea multinational military drills

Anti-explosive divers have participated in drills, as have chemical, biological, and nuclear defence specialists

Updated On: 30 Mar 2023 | 7:45 PM IST

Hungarian parliament approves Finland's bid to join Western alliance Nato

With Hungary's approval, Turkey is now the only one of NATO's 30 members not to have ratified Finland's NATO accession

Updated On: 27 Mar 2023 | 11:19 PM IST

NATO countries are party to Ukraine conflict: Russian security chief

Nikolay Patrushev emphasises that the NATO countries are parties to the conflict with Ukraine

Updated On: 27 Mar 2023 | 4:28 PM IST

In Putin and Russia, Xi sees a counterweight to American influence: WH

John Kirby noted that on Ukraine the two sides just said, the purposes and principles of the UN Charter must be observed and international law must be respected

Updated On: 22 Mar 2023 | 7:58 AM IST

US urges Turkey to 'quickly' ratify Sweden's NATO membership after Finland

After Turkey approved the process of ratifying Finland's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, the US welcomed the decision of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Updated On: 18 Mar 2023 | 9:20 AM IST

Poland to be 1st NATO member to give Ukraine fighter jets to defend itself

Poland said Thursday it plans to give Ukraine about a dozen MiG-29 fighter jets, which would make it the first NATO member to fulfil Kyiv's increasingly urgent requests for warplanes to defend itself

Updated On: 17 Mar 2023 | 7:06 AM IST

Prez Erdogan hints Turkey may ratify Finland's NATO membership

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan suggested Wednesday that his country could soon ratify Finland's application to join NATO

Updated On: 15 Mar 2023 | 10:13 PM IST

Sweden, Finland discuss NATO accession with Turkey, says military bloc

Representatives of Sweden, Finland and Turkey held talks in Brussels to discuss progress on fulfilling Turkey's conditions for agreeing to the Nordic countries' accession to NATO

Updated On: 10 Mar 2023 | 8:49 AM IST

Russia probably does not want military conflict with US, NATO: US intel

The US intelligence community believes that Russia probably does not want a direct military conflict with US and NATO forces, but there is potential for that to occur

Updated On: 09 Mar 2023 | 8:01 AM IST

Hungarian delegation supports Sweden's Nato membership application

A parliamentary delegation from Hungary said Tuesday that it supports Sweden's NATO membership bid after meeting the speaker of the Swedish parliament

Updated On: 07 Mar 2023 | 5:29 PM IST

More India is strong, more calm things will be: Former US Defence Secy

He said that all NATO could do was remind Putin that it is a nuclear-armed alliance. Its message was that Russia should not even think about it

Updated On: 04 Mar 2023 | 8:08 AM IST

Hungary further delays vote on ratifying Sweden, Finland joining NATO

The delays, which have come in succession since July 2022, have frustrated some in the European Union as well as members of Hungary's opposition parties

Updated On: 02 Mar 2023 | 10:13 PM IST