Why in news?
- Sweden’s attempt to join NATO cleared a major hurdle after Turkey’s parliament supported its membership.
- For a new country to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), all the existing members have to approve it.
- Turkey and Hungary had been opposing Sweden’s entry for almost the past two years.
What’s in today’s article?
- North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
- News Summary
North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
- About
- Formed in 1949 with the signing of the Washington Treaty, NATO is a security alliance of 31 countries from North America and Europe.
- In April 2023, Finland joined the alliance as its 31st member.
- NATO’s fundamental goal is to safeguard the Allies’ freedom and security by political and military means.
- It is a system of collective defence where independent member states agree for mutual defence in case of any attack by external party.
- Article 5 of the Washington Treaty states that an attack against one Ally is an attack against all. This article forms the core of the Alliance, a promise of collective defense.
- Headquarter – Brussels, Belgium.
- Formed in 1949 with the signing of the Washington Treaty, NATO is a security alliance of 31 countries from North America and Europe.
- Functions
- Political
- NATO promotes democratic values and enables members to consult and cooperate on defence and security-related issues to solve problems, build trust and, in the long run, prevent conflict.
- Military
- NATO is committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes.
- If diplomatic efforts fail, it has the military power to undertake crisis-management operations.
- Political
News Summary: Turkey’s parliament approves Sweden’s NATO membership
- On January 23, Turkey’s parliament voted to approve Sweden’s membership bid to join NATO.
- The vote ended a 20-month delay that frustrated Turkey’s Western allies.
Why does Sweden want to join NATO?
- Sweden has not fought a war in two centuries, staying neutral through the two World Wars and the Cold War.
- In recent years, while it joined the European Union and collaborated with NATO, it showed no intention of actually joining the military alliance.
- However, this neutrality had to be abandoned after Russia invaded Ukraine.
- With public opinion increasingly in favour of joining NATO, both Sweden and Finland applied for membership in 2022.
- While Finland’s bid was cleared, Sweden ran into stiff opposition from Turkey and Hungary.
Why was Turkey opposing Sweden’s bid?
- Support to Kurdish militant outfit
- Turkey had accused Sweden of going soft on groups it sees as terrorists, such as the Kurdish militant outfit.
- Quran-burning protests held in Sweden
- The government says that it is protected under freedom of speech laws. This further soured its relationship with Turkey.
- US agreeing to sell 40 F-16 fighter jets to Ankara
- Experts also linked Turkey’s support to Sweden with the US agreeing to sell 40 F-16 fighter jets to Ankara(capital of Turkey)
- While the US had not said the deal would depend on Turkey’s Sweden actions, the sale is expected to go through now.
What will Sweden bring to NATO?
- Once Sweden becomes a member, almost all of the Baltic Sea coastline, except that in Russia’s control, will become NATO territory.
- This will provide the alliance strategic bases close to Russia, make supply lines more streamlined, and make it easier to defend assets in the sea.
- Sweden’s military, though numerically small, is modern and experienced in past NATO missions. Importantly, it has advanced aircraft and submarine capabilities.