The Minister of Defense of Argentina Luis Petri met with the Deputy Secretary General of NATO Mircea Joane and handed him a letter about Argentinaʼs intention to become a global partner of the North Atlantic military alliance.
"We will continue to work on restoring ties that will allow us to modernize our forces in accordance with NATO standards," Petri emphasized.
The idea of the government is that, in addition to the current status of an ally outside of NATO (acquired in 1998 by the decision of the US Congress), to acquire the status of a global partner of the Alliance, which only Colombia has on the continent.
The move would bring an Argentine military attache to NATO headquarters in Brussels, allowing exchanges with soldiers from other countries.
It should be noted that NATO offers other countries in the world that cannot, do not want, or are not yet accepted into the Alliance, various options for cooperation, in particular in the format of a global partner. This option is used for those states that cannot become a NATO member due to geographical location
However, Great Britain, with which Argentina continues its dispute over the sovereignty of the Malvinas Islands, can block progress on this issue.
What is NATO?
NATO is a collective defense bloc between Europe and North America, created 75 years ago to counter threats from the Soviet Union. Since then, the transatlantic alliance has had from 12 to 32 members. The central principle of NATO is the principle of collective defense, when an attack on one of the member countries is considered an attack on all.
NATO also has more than 40 "partners", including countries and international organizations. This partnership network strengthens security outside of NATO territory. The Allianceʼs global partners include Afghanistan, Australia, Colombia, Iraq, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand and Pakistan.
Currently, NATO members are:
- Albania — date of accession April 1, 2009;
- Belgium — date of accession April 4, 1949;
- Bulgaria — date of accession March 29, 2004;
- Greece — date of accession February 18, 1952;
- Denmark — date of accession April 4, 1949;
- Estonia — date of accession March 29, 2004;
- Great Britain — date of accession April 4, 1949;
- Iceland — date of accession April 4, 1949;
- Spain — date of accession May 30, 1982;
- Italy — date of accession April 4, 1949;
- Canada — date of accession April 4, 1949;
- Latvia — date of accession March 29, 2004;
- Lithuania — date of accession March 29, 2004;
- Luxembourg — date of accession April 4, 1949;
- Netherlands — date of accession April 4, 1949;
- Germany — date of accession May 9, 1955;
- Norway — date of accession April 4, 1949;
- North Macedonia — entry date March 27, 2020;
- Poland — date of accession March 12, 1999;
- Portugal — date of accession April 4, 1949;
- Romania — date of accession March 29, 2004;
- Slovakia — date of accession March 29, 2004;
- Slovenia — date of accession March 29, 2004;
- USA — date of accession April 4, 1949;
- Turkey — date of accession February 18, 1952;
- Hungary — date of accession March 12, 1999;
- Finland — accession date of April 4, 2023;
- France — date of accession April 4, 1949;
- Croatia — date of accession April 1, 2009;
- Czech Republic — date of accession March 12, 1999;
- Montenegro — date of entry June 5, 2017;
- Sweden — entry date March 7, 2024.
Ukraine is also applying for NATO membership. In September 2020, Volodymyr Zelensky adopted a new National Security Strategy of Ukraine, which provides a basis for deepening the special partnership between Ukraine and NATO. The course for joining the Alliance is enshrined in the Ukrainian Constitution.