About NATO

• Formed in 1949 with the signing of the Washington Treaty, NATO is a security alliance of 31 countries from North America and Europe. 
• Established in the Cold War as a bulwark against Soviet aggression, NATO’s fundamental goal is to safeguard the freedom and security of all its members by political and military means.
• Article 5 of the Washington Treaty states that an attack against one Ally is an attack against all — is at the core of the Alliance, a promise of collective defence. 
  • Article 5 has been invoked only once in NATO history. It happened after the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, which led the alliance into Afghanistan.
• A “NATO decision” is the expression of the collective will of all 31 member countries since all decisions are taken by consensus.
• NATO is funded by Allies both directly and indirectly. Direct contributions are made to NATO budgets and programmes on an agreed cost-share formula, based on Gross National Income. Indirect funding is where allies commit capabilities or troops to a military operation. 
• At present, NATO has 32 members. In 1949, there were 12 founding members of the Alliance: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom and the United States. 
• The other member countries are: Greece and Turkey (1952), Germany (1955), Spain (1982), the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland (1999), Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia (2004), Albania and Croatia (2009), Montenegro (2017) North Macedonia (2020), Finland (2023) and Sweden (2024).
• NATO’s Headquarters are located in Brussels, Belgium.

Why in News?

• The UK has announced support to NATO’s efforts to enhance its space capabilities, including the possibility of using UK launch vehicles and spaceports.
• This initiative, known as the STARLIFT programme, aims to develop a network of space launch capabilities across the alliance.