According to ABBREVIATIONFINDER.ORG, NATO is short for North Atlantic Treaty Organization [n ɔ ː thetav ət lænt ɪ k tri ː t ɪ ɔ ː gəna ɪ ze ɪ ʃ n; English »North Atlantic Treaty Organization”], OTAN, short for French Organization du Traité de l’Atlantique Nord [ ɔ rganiza sj ɔ dytrε te dəlatlã t ɪ k n ɔ ː r] North Atlantic Pact, Atlantic Community, alliance concluded in Washington (D.C.) on April 4th, 1949 (entered into force on August 24th, 1949), which obliges the members, in addition to political and economic cooperation, to joint military defense.
The international law basis of NATO is Article 51 of the UN Charter, which grants states the right to individual and collective self-defense.
Members and contract
Member States
Founding members are Belgium, Denmark, France, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, Canada, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal and the USA. On February 18, 1952, the alliance was expanded to include Greece and Turkey. After the founding of the European Defense Community (EVG) failed in the French National Assembly in 1954, the Brussels Pact on the Western European Union was expanded to include the Federal Republic of Germany politically and militarily -) sovereignty became. The next day she also joined NATO (Paris Treaties). On May 30, 1982, Spain became the 16th member. With effect from July 1, 1966, France withdrew from the integrated military structure of the alliance, but remained a member of the political alliance. In 2009, the country returned to NATO’s military command structure. During the Cyprus crisis of 1974, Greece left the integrated military organization, but rejoined it on January 1, 1981. After Spain left the military structure after a referendum in 1986, the Spanish armed forces were reintegrated into the NATO military structure from January 1999. Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic were admitted to NATO on March 12, 1999 and Slovenia, the Slovak Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania on March 29, 2004. Albania and Croatia joined on April 1st, 2009, Montenegro joined the alliance on June 5, 2017. North Macedonia has been the 30th NATO member since March 27, 2020. Iceland is the only ally with no armed forces. NATO is based in Brussels.
The international legal basis of NATO
From the United Nations Charter of June 26, 1945
Chapter VII. “Measures in the event of a threat or breach of peace and in the event of acts of aggression”, Article 51
In the event of an armed attack against a member of the United Nations, this charter does not in any way affect the natural right to individual or collective self-defense until the Security Council has taken the measures necessary to maintain international peace and security. Measures taken by a member in exercising this right of self-defense must be reported to the Security Council immediately; they in no way affect his authority and duty, based on this Charter, to take at any time such measures as he deems necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security.
Charter of the United Nations of June 26, 1945 in the version of December 20, 1965, German version: Federal Law Gazette 1973 II page 431 ff., Last amended by the notice of August 28, 1980, Federal Law Gazette 1980 II page 1252.
North Atlantic Treaty
The preamble of the North Atlantic Treaty (“NATO Treaty”, also known as the “Washington Treaty”; 14 articles in total) affirmed the goals and principles of the UN statutes as well as the desire to live in peace with all peoples and governments. In Article 1, the signatory states undertake to seek peaceful settlement in the event of conflicts between themselves. Article 2 defines political and economic cooperation. Article 3 declares the intention to maintain and develop the common resistance to armed attacks through constant and effective self-help and mutual support. Article 4 contains the obligation to consult each other if a Member State considers that the integrity of the area, political independence or security of one of the partners is threatened. According to Article 5, which is central to the alliance’s external impact, an armed attack on one or more member countries means an attack on all members. However, this does not automatically result in a military obligation to provide assistance; Rather, it is left to the governments of each member of the Alliance to take prompt action, including the use of armed force, in cooperation with the other partners, as they may deem necessary. The contract territory within which Article 5 applies is defined in Article 6. It includes the territories of the contracting parties as well as the islands under the jurisdiction of a member state in the North Atlantic area north of the Tropic of Cancer. Included in the contract protection are the armed forces, ships or aircraft of a member stationed in the area concerned. The stipulation in Article 6 does not mean that events that occur outside the treaty territory cannot also be the subject of consultations in the Alliance and, as a result, the subject of joint activities if the overall political situation has an impact on the security situation of the Alliance. NATO is an intergovernmental organization without sovereignty in which the member states retain their full sovereignty and independence. Your rights and obligations arising from membership of NATO members in the United Nations, are just as little affected under Article 7 as the “primary responsibility of the Security Council for the maintenance of international peace and security”. In addition, in Article 8, the parties undertake not to enter into any obligations contrary to the contract. A permanent political and military organization was set up on the basis of Article 9 as a forum for consultation and decision-making by the member states and for ensuring effective defense. According to Article 10, NATO can invite any other European country capable of promoting the principles of the NATO treaty and contributing to the security of the North Atlantic area to join.
