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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) held its 31st summit in Brussels on June 14th
Key highlights of the summit
- NATO leaders largely backed US President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw troops from Afghanistan.
- During the summit, the NATO members issued a communiqué highlighting the “threat” presented by Russia and the “challenges” posed by China
- NATO agrees cyberattacks could lead to the invocation of mutual self-defense clause
- During the summit, US President called for NATO members to stand up to autocrats and “phony populism
About NATO summits
- NATO summits are not regular meetings like the more frequent NATO ministerial meetings, but rather are important junctures in the alliance’s decision-making process on the highest level.
- Summits are often used to introduce new policy, invite new members into the alliance, launch major new initiatives, and build partnerships with non-NATO countries.
- From the founding of NATO in 1949, there have been a total of 31 NATO summits. Only the traditional summits have received an official number, thereby excluding the exceptional summit of 2001 in NATO headquarters.
- Previously, the summit held in Watford (U.K)in December 2019
About NATO
- NATO is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 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 thirty members, mainly in Europe and North America.
- The most recent member state to be added to NATO was North Macedonia on 27 March 2020
- All decisions of NATO are taken by consensus
Source: CNN
