Nato

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation is a defensive alliance of 30 countries in Europe and North America whose mission is to safeguard one another’s freedom and security “by political and military means”. Article 5 of its founding treaty, signed in 1949, commits each member to collective defence of the Nato area and has been invoked once, after the 9/11 attacks on the United States. The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is not a member, pushed Sweden and Finland to apply for membership.