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No French has run it: Five unknown facts from the history of NATO

2024-04-04 21:29:55Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
No French has run it: Five unknown facts from the history of NATO
Five unknown facts from the history of NATO

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which today celebrates three quarters of a century of existence, also has these five little-known facts:

Thirty-two members, sometimes turbulent

NATO was founded on April 4, 1949 by 12 countries from Europe and North America to counter the Soviet threat. Now there are 20 more, but far from marching in step all together.

France withdrew from NATO's military structure in 1966 before joining it in 2009. A divide that still persists in Brussels. No Frenchman has ever been Secretary General of NATO.

Turkey is often considered the cause of the turbulence, which it became a member of in 1952, at the same time as Greece.

The two countries, longtime enemies, gave their allies some cold sweats, especially during their dispute over Cyprus in the 1960s and 1970s.

Turkey could also provoke the impatience of its allies as it did by blocking Sweden's accession for two years. It finally joined NATO in March, following Finland a year ago, one of the consequences of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Five as the pillar article of the Alliance

Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty is the foundation of the Alliance. It forces each of its members to intervene in the event of an attack against one of them.

It has only been used once in the entire history of NATO, after the September 11, 2001 attacks against the United States. The promotion of this article, considered a pillar of NATO, was decided above all to show the solidarity of the allies with the United States, without real immediate military consequences.

However, it will prompt the Alliance to intervene in Afghanistan, where it will mobilize up to 100,000 troops on the ground before a catastrophic withdrawal in August 2021.

Three headquarters, the last one in Brussels

NATO was first established in London much earlier, in 1949, crossing the English Channel to take up residence in Paris. But the French withdrawal 17 years later forced its officials to relocate again, this time to Brussels.

Many have never forgiven France, according to an Alliance diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.

In the Belgian capital, NATO has had a brand new headquarters since 2017, consisting of four buildings, which are supposed to represent crossed fingers, a symbol of unity.

More than 4,000 people work there and visitors are often photographed in front of a sculpture representing NATO's emblem, chosen in 1953: "a four-pointed star representing the compass that keeps us on the right path, the path to peace." , in the words of Lord Imsay, then Secretary General of the Alliance. Today it is the main motif on the NATO flag.

Three cult quotes

"Keep the Russians out, the Americans in and the Germans down," said Lord Ismay, NATO's first Secretary-General (1952-1957), summarizing the Alliance's missions in an undated statement.

"I said a long time ago that NATO had problems. First of all, it was outdated because it was designed years and years ago," said Donald Trump, then US president, on January 15, 2017. He used the same term during his 2016 campaign.

"What we are experiencing is the clinical death of NATO," said Emmanuel Macron on November 8, 2019.

Zero army, but lots of weapons

NATO has no military of its own, except for a fleet of AWACS reconnaissance aircraft and a few drones. It relies on the armed forces of its members, with the exception of Iceland which has none.

But for several years it was able to rely on a secret army, the clandestine "stand-back" networks coordinated by NATO at the beginning of the Cold War.

These networks were supposed to be activated in the event of a Soviet attack.

NATO regularly organizes military exercises that mobilize quantities of weapons, often very different.


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