The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
1. General – NATO Members
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was established in April 1949. Its founding members are Belgium, France, Denmark, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, Iceland, Italy, Canada, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands and Portugal.
Greece became a member of the North Atlantic Treaty in 1952, along with Türkiye. During the subsequent enlargements of NATO, the following countries joined in succession: the then Federal Republic of Germany (1955), Spain (1982), Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic (1999), Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia (2004), Albania, Croatia (2009), Montenegro (2017), North Macedonia (2020), Finland (2023) and Sweden (2024).
2. NATO's New Strategic Concept (2022)
NATO's new Strategic Concept, which was the main deliverable of the Madrid Summit (June 28-30, 2022), reaffirmed the commitment to the principles and values of the NATO Founding Treaty, as well as the significance of the transatlantic bond.
More specifically, the updated Strategic Concept is structured on the following axes:
1. Highlighting the principles and values of the Alliance (individual freedom, human rights, democracy, and rule of law) and particularly of the transatlantic bond, commitment to the principles and values of the United Nations Charter and the NATO Founding Treaty, and reaffirmation of respect for independence, territorial integrity, human rights, and international law.
2. Describing the strategic environment, with special emphasis on the main threats and challenges to the security of the Allies and to peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area.
3. Listing the three principal missions of the Alliance: (i) deterrence and defense, (ii) crisis prevention and management, and (iii) cooperative security. It confirms the continuous capability of NATO to carry out all three tasks, which are interconnected for the preservation of collective defense and security of all Allies based on the so-called “360-degree approach.”
4. Describing the guiding principles to ensure the successful course of the Alliance into the future. These include the conduct of enhanced political consultations whenever the allied values or the security of an Ally are at risk and the increase in national defense spending and common funding.
3. Greece in NATO
Greece joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1952, during the first round of enlargement, along with neighboring Türkiye. From the outset, our country has constructively participated in the institutions, mechanisms, works, and activities of the Alliance, demonstrating responsibility, consistency, and seriousness. As a full member of NATO, Greece has always played an active role in its Southeastern flank, contributing substantially and actively both politically and militarily to the Alliance.
As one of NATO's oldest members, Greece is committed to safeguarding the principles and values that it pledged to uphold upon its accession, which constitute the cornerstone of the Alliance. It is operationally present in all Alliance operations, missions, and activities: in KFOR in Kosovo, in NATO Mission in Iraq (NMI-NATO Mission Iraq), in NATO Activity in the Aegean (NATO Aegean Activity), in Operation Sea Guardian (in the Mediterranean), and previously, in NATO Mission in Afghanistan (RSM-Resolute Support Mission). We also contribute to the air policing mission in our Allies, Albania, North Macedonia, and Montenegro. Moreover, we constructively contribute to the operational and exercise planning of the Alliance. We participate as well in the newly established DIANA, the Defense Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic - founded to ensure the Alliance’s technological edge and in the related Defense Innovation Fund.
Furthermore, it is well known that our country belongs to the so-called "2% club", as it consistently meets the goal of allocating at least 2% of its GDP to defense spending and has now achieved the goal of allocating more than 20% of its defense spending to the modernization of its armament capabilities.
Our country also traditionally supports the further strengthening of NATO's partnership relations, appreciating that the pillar of cooperative security is of fundamental importance for the consolidation of global security beyond the Euro-Atlantic space and the safeguarding of the international rules-based order. To this end, we consistently seek to tighten the Alliance's bonds with partners in our broader neighborhood, and beyond.
In the same spirit, Greece has always been a steadfast supporter of the Alliance's Open-Door Policy. This is because strengthening the Alliance through the incorporation of new capable members who respect its principles and values is a consistent strategic choice of our country, provided, of course, that the necessary criteria and conditions are met.
Greece also hosts a series of significant NATO structures, which also demonstrates the importance of its footprint in the Alliance: the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operational Training Center (NMIOTC) in Crete, which is the only NATO-certified training center on maritime security issues, the NATO Rapid Deployable Corps-Greece (NRDC-GR) in Thessaloniki, the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defense Center of Excellence (IAMD CoE), also in Crete, as well as the NATO Missile Firing Installation (NAMFI) at the Crete Firing Range.
Our country will continue to actively contribute to the implementation of allied initiatives, decisions, and actions aimed at addressing traditional and non-traditional security challenges in a timely, effective, and reliable manner. Remaining committed to international multilateralism, the maintenance of international peace and security, respect for International Law and human rights, as well as the defense of NATO principles and values, our country will not cease to promote within the Alliance the methodical enhancement of its footprint, the deepening of partnership relations, the consolidation of stability, and the effective response to pervasive instability in NATO's southern flank, as well as the shaping of a more functional relationship with the EU, one that corresponds to the realities of today's world.
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