Sweden’s NATO Membership:
Hungary’s parliament voted to approve Sweden’s bid to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), making it the 32nd nation to join the alliance.
- NATO, a vital transatlantic military and political alliance, ensures collective security for its member countries. Established in 1949 by 12 founding nations, with a majority from Europe and North America, it remains a cornerstone of international stability.
- NATO is headquartered at Boulevard Leopold III in Brussels, Belgium.
- Alliances of NATO:
- Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC)
- Mediterranean Dialogue fosters security and stability in the Mediterranean by enhancing relations between participating countries and NATO Allies.
- Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) offers non-NATO countries in the broader Middle East region the opportunity to cooperate with NATO, aiming to enhance regional security.
- “NATO plus” refers to a security arrangement of NATO and the five treaty allies of the U.S. — Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Israel, and South Korea as members — to enhance “global defence cooperation” and win the “strategic competition with the Chinese Communist Party”.
- NATO Plus is not an officially recognised or established concept within NATO.