In news– Finland has recently joined NATO as 31st member upon depositing its instrument of accession to the North Atlantic Treaty with the United States at NATO Headquarters in Brussels.
Key updates-
- To join the US-led NATO, the small Nordic country, which shares a 1,340-km border with Russia, has ended more than 70 years of military non-alignment.
- In fact, in the Cold War years, a policy of neutrality between the Soviet Union and the West was known as ‘Finlandisation’, and Finlandisation had been one of the options discussed for Ukraine before Russia invaded it.
- Finland’s membership represents a major change in Europe’s security landscape: The country adopted neutrality after its defeat by the Soviets in World War II.
- NATO Allies signed Finland’s Accession Protocol on 5 July 2022, after which all 30 national parliaments voted to ratify the country’s membership.
About the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)-
- NATO is an intergovernmental military alliance between more than thirty North American and European countries.
- The organization implements the North Atlantic Treaty that was signed on 4 April 1949.
- NATO’s purpose is to guarantee the freedom and securityof its members through political and military means.
- POLITICAL – NATO promotes democratic values.
- MILITARY – NATO is committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes. If diplomatic efforts fail, it has the military power to undertake crisis-management operations.
- NATO’s Headquarters are located in Evere, Brussels, Belgium, while the headquarters of Allied Command Operations is near Mons, Belgium.
- Members:NATO has 31 members, mainly in Europe and North America.
- The most recent members state to be added to NATO were North Macedonia on 27 March 2020 and Finland in April 2023.
- All decisions of NATO are taken by consensus.
Source: The Indian Express
