Explainer: What is NATO and why Russia stands against it today

Hyderabad: Russia has waged a war on Ukraine and today marks the thirteenth day of the deadly onslaught. While Ukrainians in thousands have fled the country and many are looking to follow suit, students from South Asian and African countries, including several from India are also helplessly stuck in the war-torn country even as rescue operations continue.

All the turmoil summed up in layman’s terms, is due to Russia finding Ukraine’s aspirations of becoming a full member of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), threatening to its borders. With former Soviet nations Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia already joining NATO as full members, in addition to two of its other neighbouring countries Poland and Norway being long standing members of the organization, Russia already has borders with 5 of the 30 member nations.

What is NATO?

NATO – North Atlantic Treaty Organization, headquartered in Brussels in Belgium, is an intergovernmental military alliance among 28 European and 2 North American States established in the aftermath of World War II.

The organization implements the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on April 4, 1949 by founding member States USA, France, UK, Norway, Italy, Canada, Netherlands, Denmark, Belgium, Portugal, Iceland and Luxembourg. The Treaty assures a system of collective security where individual member States agree to mutual defence in an event of attack by any external State.

The alliance was initially created with efforts from the USA and its European allies to check the expansion plans of the then-Soviet Union (USSR).

NATO has consistently expanded its reach bringing in more eastern and central European States into the organization. Since inception there have been several new admissions, which saw an increase in NATO’s strength from being 12 initially to 30 now, with North Macedonia being given full membership in March, 2020.

How does a country join NATO?

NATO says its membership is open to any European State willing to further the policies and principles of the Treaty to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic region.

States that are willing to join the organization must follow and application process called ‘Membership Action Plan’ which NATO describes as a “programme of advice, assistance and practical support tailored to the individual needs of countries wishing to join the Alliance.”

Partner States and aspiring members

Several States such as Bosnia, Georgia, Herzegovina and Ukraine have declared their support to NATO and aspire to be full members of the Organization, for security from external forces as well as internal with political and military assistance.

If Ukraine gets a full member status of the NATO, Russia fears that its influence in the region will be restricted as the former will become the sixth bordering country to be under the Western influence which also comes along with military assistance.

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