Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Sweden officially joins NATO, becoming alliance’s 32nd member
In 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was established by
12 founding members to defend each other against attacks by third parties,
namely the Soviet Union and its ally the Warsaw Pact during the Cold War. The collective
security system was joined by the former Soviet allies including Poland,
Hungary, and others after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. Having been
threatened by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2002, Finland and Sweden applied
to join the treaty. While Finland was accepted to join the organization a year
later, Sweden’s application was approved just earlier this month because Turkey
and Hungary hadn’t ratified it. Sweden had maintained a policy of neutrality in
armed conflicts from the early 19th century when it lost a substantial
part of the territory after the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) and the Finnish War
(1808-1809). Since the collective defense clause in Article 5 of the NATO treaty
requires the member states to come to the defense of an attack on any member
state, joining the defense treaty is a considerable risk and commitment to the
member states while assuring them of military support. What made the former
neutral country join NATO as the 32nd member was the treaty’s
hypothetical enemy, Russia.
Read the article and learn about the latest expansion of NATO.
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