Turkey’s parliament approves Sweden’s NATO membership

Subject: IR

Section: Int Groupings

Context:

Sweden’s attempt to join NATO cleared a major hurdle after Turkey’s parliament supported its membership.

More About News

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.

About NATO

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.

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.