one of the greats protagonists in the crisis between Ukraine and Russia is NATO. That, at least, is the main demand expressed by the Russian leader Vladimir Putin, who demands that the NATO close its doors to Ukraine’s request to be included in the body.
A few years after the end of World War II, On April 4, 1949, twelve countries signed the Washington Treaty agreeing to create an Alliance and commit to defend each other in case of armed aggression against any of them.
Thus came the North Atlantic Organization, or better known by the acronym NATO (NATO in English), an international organization of a political and military nature. whose objective is to guarantee the security and freedom of its member countries.
Partner countries
Although there were twelve signatory countries of the Washington Treaty: United States, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Holland, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, United Kingdom and Portugal, NATO currently groups 30 countries.
In 1952 they joined Greece and Turkey; in 1955 the Federal Republic of Germany; in 1982 Spain; in 1999 they joined Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic.
In 2004 they joined Romania, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Slovakia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania and in 2009 it was the turn of Albania and Croatia. In 2017 he joined Montenegrinand finally Macedoniain 2020.
Besides, the NATO maintains association agreements with around 40 countries collaborating with the Alliance in activities related to security and defence.
The Alliance has had a close relationship with Ukraine since the country joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council in 1991 and the Partnership for Peace program in 1994.
Ukraine’s application for NATO membership
In 2008, when Viktor Yushchenko was the president of Ukraine, he began his accession process by submitting his application to become a member of the Alliance in Brussels. However, in 2010 he changed the country’s presidency to Viktor Yanukovych and relations with Europe cooled. In 2014 the annexation of Crimea by Russia would come, returning the conflict to the country.
February 15: President Vladimir Putin says that Russia does not want war in Europe
In 2017, the Ukrainian Parliament passed legislation re-establishing NATO membership as a goal, and in subsequent years there were changes to the country’s Constitution to meet the requirements requested by the Alliance.
Finally, in 2020, the current president of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky approved a Security Strategy National with the aim of joining NATO.
NATO deploys response units to bolster its defenses
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday that the alliance will strengthen its defenses on the eastern flank with soldiers and air assets, in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Stoltenberg explained that the allies had activated their defense plans and “consequently (…) land, sea and air elements of the NATO Response Force are being deployed.” This means activating thousands of supplementary troops and about 100 planes in 30 different positions on high alert, he added. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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