What Is NATO Countries?
What is NATO? The North Atlantic Treaty Organization – better known as NATO – is an alliance of European and North American countries created in 1949 that aims to guarantee the freedom and security of members through political solutions and military means.
What is NATO? According to the organization’s official website, “it constitutes a unique link between these two continents that allows them to consult and cooperate in the field of defense and security and jointly carry out multinational operations to manage a crisis.”
One of the fundamental points of this alliance is based on the principle of collective defense, as set out in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty. This means that the attack on one of the members of the organization is considered an attack by all allies.
Its foundation was promoted by the United States in the context of the Cold War, with the aim of increasing its military power in the face of the threat of the Soviet Union and its socialist allies. In return, the Soviets pushed for the creation of the Warsaw Pact in 1955.
How Was NATO Founded?
Why Are NATO Formed: The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was created by the signing of the Washington Treaty on April 4, 1949. In that pact, countries on both sides of the Atlantic (Belgium, Canada, Denmark, the United States, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, Portugal and the United Kingdom) agreed to defend each other in case any external country attacked any of the members. What is NATO.
Thus, and based on the Charter of the United Nations that recognizes the right of individual or collective self-defense, in the event of armed attack, this alliance was created. This links north American defense to some of the Western European countries, explains Spain’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
ORIGIN OF NATO
What is the NATO Origin? The origin of NATO dates back to April 4, 1949. After the end of World War II, 12 countries signed the Washington Treaty by which they agreed to create an Alliance and commit to defend each other in case of armed aggression against any of them. What is NATO.
Why Was NATO Created?
After World War II, the major world powers wanted to come up with a plan so that the conflicts that erupted in the first half of the twentieth century would not take place again. One of them was the Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. What is NATO.
However, it was understood that this was not enough to ensure that these events would not happen again, according to the Spanish Committee of UNHCR, the UN refugee agency. Mainly because the enmity between the two great powers (the Soviet Union and the United States) was increasingly obvious.
The countries of the Western bloc were very concerned about the expansionist plans of the Soviet Union, which advocated an economic, political and social model based on communism. Therefore, UNHCR confirms that in order to position itself against this system and protect itself from possible military attacks, US allies formalized the agreement that NATO made official in 1949. What is NATO.
NATO is a military alliance between several member states. These states are located in North America and Europe.
According to Article 5 of its founding treaty, the North Atlantic Treaty, signed on 4 April 1949 in Washington (also known as the Washington Treaty), the signatory countries (the Allied States that are part of NATO) undertake to assist each other if the territory of one of them, located in North America or Europe, is invaded (principle of “collective defence”). What is NATO.
This means that they commit, if they deem it necessary, to go to war against the state that assaults one of the allies. But this commitment is not automatic: the entry into war of the allies against the aggressor is possible, even if it is assumed that in the case of aggression by a state foreign to the alliance of an allied state, all the allies will go to war against the aggressor state, or at least the main of them, the United States of America. What is NATO.
The Parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of themoccurring in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack directed against all parties, and accordingly they agree that, if such an attack occurs, each of them, in the exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence, recognized by Article 51 of the Charter of the United Nations, assist the party or parties so attacked by immediately taking, individually and in agreement with the other parties, such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force, to restore and ensure security in the North Atlantic region.
Any armed attack of this nature and any action taken as a result shall be immediately brought to the attention of the Security Council. These measures will end when the Security Council has taken the necessary measures to restore and maintain international peace and security.
Each Member State retains its army and command of its army, but the defence policies of the Member States are closely linked.
NATO is also a political alliance between states that believe that the principles that drive them are close. The preamble to the Treaty states that the Member States are:
Determined to safeguard the freedom of their peoples, their common heritage and their civilization, based on the principles of democracy, individual freedoms and the rule of law. What is NATO.
NATO Members Countries
Who are NATO members Countries? The organization was created based on the agreement of 12 countries, but today there are 30 nations that form this alliance; 28 belong to the European continent and two to the American continent (United States and Canada). This is the list of all the countries that are part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and their date of accession. who are members of NATO. What is NATO.
- in North America:
- United States (1949);
- Canada (1949);
- NATO members in Europe: countries that are also members of the European Union:
- Belgium (1949);
- Denmark (1949);
- France (1949);
- Italy (1949);
- Luxembourg (1949);
- Netherlands (1949);
- Portugal (1949);
- Greece (1952);
- Germany (1955 for West Germany, or FRG);
- Spain (1982);
- Hungary (1999);
- Poland (1999);
- Czech Republic (1999);
- Bulgaria (2004);
- Estonia (2004);
- Latvia (2004);
- Lithuania (2004);
- Romania (2004);
- Slovakia (2004);
- Slovenia (2004);
- Croatia (2009);
Non-EU countries:
- Iceland (1949);
- Norway (1949);
- United Kingdom (1949);
- Turkey (1952);
- Albania (2009);
- Montenegro (2017);
- North Macedonia (2020).
Above list who are the members of NATO
The organization stresses that it is open to “any other European state willing to endorse the principles of this Treaty and contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area.” To this end, they have an Accession Action Plan, a programme of “NATO advice, assistance and practical support tailored to the individual needs of countries wishing to join the Alliance”. What is NATO.
Characteristics of NATO
The main features of NATO are as follows:
- It is a political-military system of collective defense that establishes mutual aid in the face of attack on any of its members.
- It was founded in 1949 by twelve states, ten of them from Europe and two from North America. Its main driver was the S. government, which transformed it into the armed wing of the Western bloc in Cold War times.
- Its headquarters are located in the city of Brussels, Belgium.
- Its official languages are English and French.
- It currently has 30 members, several of them former members of the Warsaw Pact.
- NATO admits the incorporation of new members, but their entry must be approved unanimously, after the approval of the United States government.
- NATO’s effective governing authority is the North Atlantic Council, which is composed of a permanent representative from each of the Member States. The Council meets at least once a week in meetings headed by a Secretary-General. All its decisions are taken unanimously and by mutual agreement.
- NATO has a Parliamentary Assembly, which sets out the strategic objectives of the alliance. It consists of legislators from member countries, as well as thirteen associate members. It meets once a year and elaborates the political agenda of the Council taking into account the reports of five committees that address different areas such as science and technology, economy, security and defense, etc.
- NATO’s military structure is led by the Military Committee, which is responsible for advising the Council and the Secretary-General on tactical and strategic matters. It is chaired by the Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, who is NATO’s highest-ranking officer.
Nato Vs Russia Military power
NATO Vs Russia Military Power
NATO has 6,065 nuclear weapons while Russia alone has 6,255. It also found NATO allies had 144,000 armored units, more than double that of Russia’s 60,000, again a similar number to Statista. NATO once more outnumbered Russia with 20,700 aircraft, a factor of nearly five to one when compared to Russia’s 4,170.
Where is NATO headquarters?
The headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is the political and administrative center of the alliance. Today it is located in Haren, in the city of Brussels (Belgium). The headquarters hosts the national delegations of the member countries and the international Secretariat and General Staff.
