NATO today marks the 75th anniversary of collective defense across Europe and North America at a time when Russia’s war in Ukraine has entered its third year and is a test of allies’ resolve.
At the ceremony in Brussels, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and his colleagues will mark the anniversary of the signing of the founding treaty of the Alliance on April 4, 1949 in Washington. A bigger celebration is planned when NATO leaders meet in Washington on July 9-11.
Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Bilstrom is taking part in the first ministerial-level meeting since his country became NATO’s 32nd member last month. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 forced Sweden and its Nordic neighbor Finland, long-standing neutrals, to seek entry into the Alliance.
The number of members of the North Atlantic Alliance has almost tripled in more than seven decades from its 12 founding countries. Finland and Sweden came under NATO’s collective security guarantee in record time, after some stalling over their admission from populist leaders in Turkey and Hungary who demanded compensation for their admission. The Collective Security Guarantee, Article Five of the Washington Treaty, which was sent to Brussels for today’s ceremony, says that an attack on any member of the Alliance must have a unified response. That article was resorted to only once, after the Al Qaeda attack on America in 2001.
“NATO was founded with one official promise – an attack on one ally is an attack on all. From that foundation, we built the most powerful and successful alliance in history,” said Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on the eve of the anniversary.
Blinken described NATO as “a defensive alliance with no pretensions to the territory of any other country, but with a determination to protect the territory of each of its members and to do so in a way that was unique in human history.”
As a more recent success of NATO, as it grew out of the Cold War and after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Alliance counted on its 1999 air campaign against the former Yugoslavia to end the “bloody showdown with the Albanians” and an effort to prevent an almost certain civil war in Macedonia in 2001, writes the AP agency.
On the other side of the spectrum is the operation in Afghanistan. NATO took command of the security operation in 2003 and it became the longest, costliest and costliest operation in the Alliance’s history. It was also marked by a chaotic retreat in August 2021, when many of the successes achieved in nearly two decades were abandoned.
Today, Ukraine also wants a place in NATO, but the Alliance works on the basis of unanimity and there is no consensus on whether it should become a member. Most allies are against Ukraine becoming a member while the war continues. For now, NATO promises only that the door is open for Ukraine in the future.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said he launched the war, at least in part, because NATO was expanding closer to Russia’s borders.
NATO allies also cannot agree on whether to arm Ukraine. As an organization, the Alliance only provides non-lethal aid, such as transport vehicles, fuel, food for the military, medical equipment and demining equipment. However, many members send weapons and ammunition bilaterally, or in groups.
The bulk of NATO’s efforts since Russian troops began massing for the invasion have focused on strengthening its own borders near Russia and Ukraine to dissuade Putin from making one of his allies his next target.
Article five may have had its toughest test while Donald Trump was president of the US, the country that is by far the most powerful member. Trump hinted at the possibility that the US would not come to the aid of any NATO ally that did not set aside at least two percent of its GDP for its defense, as agreed in 2014.
Trump repeated that threat during the election campaign this year. NATO expects 18 of its 32 members to reach that goal this year, a significant increase from just three members a decade ago.
The leaders of Hungary and Turkey also undermined the unity of the Alliance from within. Hungary insists it is time to make peace with Russia and has vetoed high-level meetings with Ukraine in the past. Turkey, with the support of Hungary, delayed Swedish membership in the Alliance.
The two countries are expected to test their unity even now that the Alliance is looking for a replacement for Stoltenberg, one of the longest-serving secretaries-general, who is leaving in October. Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rute is by far the biggest favorite for the seat, but Hungary and Turkey again have some reservations.
