Who Are The North Atlantic Treaty Organization Countries and What Are They For ?

Nadene Goldfoot                                         

The 12 founding member countries of NATO are Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. 30 countries altogether make up NATO.  

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, alternately known as NATO, is a military alliance between countries in North America and Europe. NATO was formed in the aftermath of World War II to preserve peace in Europe and protect democratic nations from potential attacks by the Soviet Union (which exists today as the Russian Federation). 

NATO’s website states that NATO's founding treaty "commits the Allies to democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law, as well as to peaceful resolution of disputes. Importantly, the treaty sets out the idea of collective defense, meaning that an attack against one Ally is considered an attack against all Allies." As of February 2022, NATO has 30 members in total.

Country	Joined		Country	Joined
Albania	2009		Lithuania	2004
Belgium	1949*		Luxembourg	1949*
Bulgaria	2004		Montenegro	2017
Canada	1949*		Netherlands	1949*
Croatia	2009		North Macedonia	2020
Czech Republic	1999		Norway	1949*
Denmark	1949*		Poland	1999
Estonia	2004		Portugal	1949*
France	1949*		Romania	2004
Germany	1955		Slovakia	2004
Greece	1952		Slovenia	2004
Hungary	1999		Spain	1982
Iceland	1949*		Turkey	1952
Italy	1949*		United Kingdom	1949*
Latvia	2004		United States	1949*

Why hasn't NATO accepted Ukraine being that Poland is a member?  Latvia is a member.  Lithuania is a member. Estonia is a member.  Hungary is a member but refuses to mix in to help Ukraine for security reasons.   Ukraine has pressed for membership in NATO in order to defend the country from Russia, which is right on their border. Vladimir Putin is vehemently opposed to Ukraine joining the Western alliance, seeing it as a threat to Russia’s borders..  This is his reason for attacking Ukraine, and they are not even members!  

Update: 3/27/22:  Sweden is not in NATO and its jets are flying over Russia and the area, helping Ukraine, seemingly answering the plee from Zelinsky.                                    

 It has looked to many that it is Biden who is not ready for such a step, as he is being very careful not to get involved or mix in.  He's rightfully avoiding a war, that would turn out to be the 3rd world war, and that means that any war today would involve nuclear bombing as well as chemical attacks. But, the US is a NATO member.  Ukraine had asked, but was turned down from belonging to NATO.  It looks like Russia used a lot of screws to stop NATO.      

NATO's comment is:  As all of us know that Russia’s war conflict has been going on with Ukraine and it’s day 2 still there is no situation of war that looks to be the end. The main reason for this fight is NATO itself as  Russia doesn’t want Ukraine or any other ex-Soviet Nation to be a part of NATO. If somehow Ukraine becomes NATO’s part then world war 3 can possibly happen as Russia has a big history of conducting wars and does not let that happen. While Ukraine is not a Nato member, it is one of the body’s “enhanced opportunity partners”.As a result of the PII, NATO granted tailor-made “enhanced opportunities” for deeper cooperation with six partners: Australia, Finland, Georgia, Jordan, Sweden and Ukraine.

This status is afforded to non-member nations that have “made significant contributions to Nato-led operations and missions”, such as Australia and Sweden.

In 1997, Nato established a Ukraine-Nato commission, which allowed for discussion on security issues and enabled the furthering of the Nato-Ukraine relationship without a formal membership agreement.

For a country to become part of Nato, it has to be unanimously approved by all current members.

Countries including France and Germany had previously been skeptical about Ukraine’s inclusion, though Russia’s invasion has changed the situation significantly.

However, factors taken into account when considering membership include “unresolved external territorial disputes”, meaning Ukraine is unlikely to be granted membership anytime soon.

Alastair Kocho-Williams, professor of history at Clarkson University in the US, says Nato membership would “significantly increase Ukraine’s international military backing, allowing for Nato military action within Ukraine and alongside members of its military”.

How do countries join NATO?

NATO says its membership is open to “any other European state in a position to further the principles” of its treaty and to “contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area”.

Countries who wish to join NATO must follow a membership action plan – an application process that involves outlining security and political policies.

The membership action plan helps “aspiring members prepare for membership and meet key requirements by providing practical advice and targeted assistance”.

But it can be a lengthy undertaking.

North Macedonia took 20 years to complete the plan before it joined Nato in 2020.

Why doesn’t Russia want Ukraine to join Nato?

Russia strongly opposes Nato’s expansion to include Ukraine, and has demanded a formal veto on it ever becoming a member.

"President Putin has made clear that he sees the country’s aspirations to join the group as a threat to Russia’s borders and its sphere of influence.'"  That could include the influence of democracy and freedom.

Five NATO countries currently border Russia after former Soviet states of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania became members.  That is Belarus on the border. Finland is NOT a member.  Kazakhstan is NOT a member.  Ukraine is NOT a member.  

   Look below;  Russia and Ukraine are listed as a partnership for peace.   Let’s guess:  if any country attacks the NATO Partner country then the 30 countries armed force will attack that country to protect their NATO Members.

NATO is allied with 30+ powerful countries so it is already a chance that NATO will hold that war but from the current situation, NATO has no plan to jump on this Russia vs Ukraine crisis.                                

 NATO Partner Countries:   Over more than 25 years, the Alliance has developed a network of partnerships with non-member countries from the Euro-Atlantic area, the Mediterranean and the Gulf region, and other partners across the globe. NATO pursues dialogue and practical cooperation with these nations on a wide range of political and security-related issues. NATO’s partnerships are beneficial to all involved and contribute to improved security for the broader international community. The irony of this is that 2 partnership countries are at war with each other.  

• The Republic of Moldova
• Russia
• Serbia
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• Tajikistan
• Turkmenistan
• Ukraine
• Uzbekistan
• Armenia
• Austria
• Azerbaijan
• Belarus
• Bosnia
• Herzegovina
• Finland
• Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
• Georgia
• Ireland
• Kazakhstan
• Kyrghyz Republic
• Malta,
•            3 NATO Countries On The Russian Border

• Latvia: U.S. paratroopers have already been deployed here in the wake of the invasion and several U.S. Apache attack helicopters are now also in the country. Latvia has also suspended three Russian TV channels.
• Lithuania: This country has already declared a state of emergency following the invasion, deploying the army to its borders. Along with Estonia, a small number of F-35 fighter jets have reportedly been deployed here.
• Estonia: In addition to the F-35 deployment, the country's parliament issued a remarkably harsh condemnation of the invasion citing the Nuremberg Principles, established in the wake of the Nazi trials after World War II. The country's independence day, as it happens, is also Thursday.
  
  It's been a whole month and Ukraine, with donations from NATO countries, is still surviving Russia's onslaught though just about completely destroyed, as their buildings are nothing but rubble, and they've lost electricity.  Just try to imagine how much of our lives are dependent on electricity.  We would not survive.  Then water and food is about run out.    Russia has shown contempt for life by destroying residential areas, even aiming directly at people when they can.  They are turning into contemptuous killers of our past with unbelievable cruelty.  Many Russians have left Russia out of disgust for their country and the effect of the sanctions placed on Russia for punishment.                           

Ukraine's war has gone on for one month as of today, and we just found out that North Korea took advantage of the world situation and tested, it looks successfully, their inter-continental missile yesterday that would be able to carry multiple warheads of nuclear material.  It could hit any part of the USA.Biden didn't know this would happen, but it is a sneaky thing to do.  Our adversaries of course are sneaky and out of their minds.  

Edited 3/26/22 about Hungary

Resource:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO

https://www.nato.int/

https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/declassified_139339.htm

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1945-1952/nato

https://www.nato.int/nato-welcome/index.html

https://nato.usmission.gov/about-nato/