(MENAFN- Swissinfo) Who is part of NATO?
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is a military alliance of 31 statesExternal link (all European apart from the United States and Canada). The founding treaty was signed by 12 members in Washington, DC, on April 4, 1949.
+ Switzerland announces intent to deepen NATO cooperation
Originally a military alliance to counter the Soviet Union, since the fall of the Berlin Wall it has promoted security in Europe more broadly by integrating new challenges such as terrorism, cyberwarfare and the rise of China.
NATO is committed to the principle of collective defence, which states that“an attack against one or several of its members is considered as an attack against all”. So far, this principle (Article 5 of the Washington Treaty) has been invoked once – in response to the 9/11 attacks in the US in 2001.
NATO headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium, and since 2014 the secretary general has been Jens Stoltenberg, a former prime minister of Norway.
What's Switzerland's relationship to NATO?
Switzerland is officially neutral and is not a member of NATO. However, since 1996 it has taken part in NATO's Partnership for Peace programmeExternal link . This involves bilateral military cooperation and sharing of information and experiences. There are no binding legal obligations, such as collective defence.
The Swiss Armed Forces have taken part in the NATO-led international peacekeeping force in Kosovo since 1999. This has triggered Swiss politicians across the spectrum: some on the left have denounced the militarisation of Swiss foreign policy, while others on the right claim it undermines neutrality.
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How neutral is Switzerland, really?
The war in Ukraine is forcing Switzerland to explain its neutrality.
In March 2022 the Swiss ambassador to NATO, Philippe Brandt, told SWI swissinfo in an interview that Swiss neutrality was one of the foundations of Switzerland's partnership with NATO, which, in his opinion, was“stable and fruitful”.
Why is Switzerland considering getting closer to the military alliance?
“In view of the significant deterioration in the security situation there is a need to strengthen Switzerland's defence capability,” the government said in a statementExternal link on January 31.“In addition, security and defence policy will be geared more consistently to international cooperation, especially with NATO, the EU and neighbouring countries.”
The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 shook up the European security framework. NATO, which French President Emmanuel Macron had dismissed in 2019 as becoming brain-deadExternal link , has got a new lease of life with the accession of Finland last year and once-neutral Sweden next in line to join.
+ Explainer: Russia pushes Europe's neutral states closer to NATO External lin
Since the war in Ukraine there has been much debate in Switzerland about a rapprochement with NATO, and the move has found support in almost all political camps and among the public. The question is how close this cooperation should be.
A few weeks after the invasion, Thierry Burkart, president of the centre-right Radical-Liberal Party, argued in an op-edExternal link in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung that it was time for“the end of hedgehog Switzerland”, which just rolls up into a spiky ball when in trouble but does nothing when other countries are attacked.“Switzerland's security policy is at an impasse,” he wrote.“Russia's attack on Ukraine reveals this ruthlessly.”
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