NATO - 75 years: Custom events in Alyasna's history from Russian exercises to support of Ukraine
Focus has prepared material for the 75th anniversary of NATO about the most prominent events in the history of the Alliance. After the Second World War, the world faced new security challenges. Secretary negotiations on blocks and unions have continued for several years between the Western countries. This ended in the fact that on April 4, 1949 they signed the North Atlantic Treaty. He obliged every member of the Alliance to defend the ally in the event of an attack.
The final ratification of the contract took place on August 24, 1949. Since then, the block has expanded, but it cannot be said that there were no conflicts. As of 2024, 32 countries are included in the Alliance. Despite the presence of Greece and Turkey, NATO is a very tense relationship between the two countries. From time to time, the tension is increasing and Ankara with Athens are a step towards hostilities. The conflict between Greece and Turkey began before the Second World War.
The new stage was the war for Cyprus. Cyprus is an island in the Mediterranean, which is lived by cypriots and Greeks. The conflict broke out against the backdrop of the one who will control the island. Greek Cypriots wanted to connect with Greece, and Turkey wanted to "protect" the ciproiots after a coup that Greece supported. As a result, real fighting broke out for the island. Turkey planted a contingent in 1974 and has since then been divided into two parts.
The first is an internationally recognized Republic of Cyprus. The second is the Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is recognized only by Turkey. The role of NATO in the resolution of the conflict is almost absent because all the Alliance's decisions are made by the consent of all Member States. Especially in the 1970s, there was still a Soviet Union, so NATO did not try to impose sanctions against Turkey or Greece.
Now the friction between Greece and Turkey occurs from time to time, but is no longer reached by the Armed Forces. However, politicians do not neglect the falls to each other. In the early 1990s, a bloody war was unfolding in the territory of modern Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo and Northern Macedonia. For the first time in their history, Nativ forces participated in hostilities.
The aggressor was the regime of Slobodan Miloshevich in Serbia, who did not want to give independence to countries. The Alliance put the conditions of Miloshevich: withdraw from Kosovo Serbs, introduce peacekeepers and return to the edge of refugees. Otherwise, the military threatened air strokes. The dictator did not go to the conditions, so NATO was struck. It was believed that the air forces in a few days of bombing would be forced to sit at the negotiating table.
However, the conflict has only intensified. After all, in June 1999, when about 500 civilians were killed as a result of bombardment, Miloshevich agreed to introduce international troops in Kosovo. As a result of the war, Miloshevich was transferred to the Hague, where he died. He was accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Kosovo. Two years later, in 2008, Kosovo declared independence. It is recognized by 102 UN member states in 193, but did not do about 80 countries.
Among them is Ukraine, but this does not prevent it from declaring military assistance to Kosovo to the Ukrainian state. There are also about 4,000 soldiers from the Nativ coalition in Kosovo. In August 2003, the Alliance assumed commanding international security forces in Afghanistan due to terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. The contingent of the troops was withdrawn in 2021, when the decisions were made by the United States.
Afghanistan is now under the control of the Taliban. According to the NATO website, the Alliance members did not know that in 2003-2006 the rebels would be more stable. NATO operation involved training in the Afghan National Army, helped to train the Afghan National Police and maintain more efforts to stabilize the situation in the country.
In the end, NATO troops were withdrawn from Afghanistan and the country has dumped the Taliban for the following reasons: Over the past 20 years, the attitude towards Russia has changed dramatically. Previously, there were very close relationships with Moscow, joint training was conducted. The Russian Federation was part of the partnership program for peace. The Council of Russia - NATO for safety and joint projects was established in 2002.
After the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian War, everything changed dramatically. Russia has become a major threat to the Alliance, and after February 24, 2022, historically neutral Sweden and Finland have applied for NATO entry and are already part of the North Atlantic Alliance. Their solution is evidence of more global changes within the Alliance. Russian aggression prompted a change in the approach to the vision of safety among Member States.
Previously, the tactics involved the loss of certain territories until the military prepared forces, now the battle will start from the first meters of any of the 32 states. New parts are being formed on the eastern flanks of NATO and they are constantly in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland and Romania. With the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO, the Baltic Sea has actually become internal. The balance of strength continues to change, and Finland closes the border with Russia indefinitely.
The issue of Ukraine's accession to NATO remains open. For many years, the Alliance claims that the door for Kiev is open, but the conditions must be fulfilled. The closest to the accession of Ukraine was in 2008, when it was planned to sign a member of action (MAC). However, Western politicians were pressed by Vladimir Putin. Instead of MAs, Ukraine was promised that the door was open. In the conditions of a full-scale war, Ukraine will not enter NATO due to lack of consensus among Member States.
However, everyone agrees that Ukraine will become a member of the Alliance. "As stated by the Allies in Vilnius, Ukraine will be a member of NATO. For us the question is to have a good and clear route to achieve such a result. And I believe that NATO summit will be very specific on the 75th anniversary. As we can determine this route, or, in other words, a bridge is a necessary bridge so that Ukraine can become a member of NATO, "Blinken said on April 2 at a Paris Press Conference.