30 Oct 2024        11:14:12 am

Current Affairs

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Tags : North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

Topic: Multilateral Groupings

Why in the news?

• Finland will place a key NATO base in Mikkeli, less than 200 km from its border with Russia, sending a message to its eastern neighbour. 
• Finland became a NATO member last year, dropping decades of military non-alignment after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Source: The Hindu 

About North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO):

• It was founded in 1949, with the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty or Washington Treaty, with the aim of acting as a deterrent to the threat of Soviet expansion in Europe after World War II. 
• Its headquarters are located in Brussels (Belgium).
• It is a political and military alliance of 32 countries from Europe and North America. 
• It is founded on the principle of collective defense (Article 5 of the Treaty), meaning that if one NATO Ally is attacked, then all NATO Allies are attacked.
  • So far, Article 5 has been invoked once – in response to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
• Its twelve founding members include Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States.
• Finland joined NATO in 2023.
• EU members that are not a part of NATO are: Austria, Cyprus, Ireland and Malta.
• It provides a unique link between Europe and North America (the transatlantic link), enabling them to consult and cooperate in the field of defense and security, and conduct multinational crisis-management operations together.
• Every NATO country contributes to the costs of running the Alliance, based on a cost-share formula derived from Gross National Income. 
• It maintains relations with more than 40 non-member countries and international organizations, called NATO partners, through following structures: 
  • Partnership for Peace(PfP): A programme of bilateral cooperation with countries in the Euro-Atlantic area. It includes 18 partner countries, including Russia (partnerships with Belarus and Russia are currently suspended).
  • Mediterranean Dialogue(MD), for countries in the Mediterranean region. 
  • Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) for countries in the  Middle East region.
  • International organizations: NATO cooperates with UN, EU and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)

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