Colombia joins NATO as global partner

Colombia has formally joined North Atlantic Treaty Organization as global partner. It makes it first Latin American to join NATO. The announcement came after Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) approved Colombia as a new member.

Background

NATO alliance had reached partnership agreement with Colombia back in May 2017, just after the Latin American signed peace agreement with communist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), ending the longest-running civil conflict in Latin America. The peace deal had earned Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos 2016 Nobel Peace Prize.

Key Facts

As a global partner with NATO, Colombia will not necessarily have to take part in active military actions of NATO but will be fully accredited to 29-nation military alliance. It will cooperate on global security areas like cyber and maritime security, terrorism and links to organized crime. Other global partners of NATO include Afghanistan, Australia, Iraq, Japan, South Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand and Pakistan.

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

NATO is an intergovernmental military alliance between 29 North American and European countries based on the North Atlantic Treaty that was signed on 4 April 1949. It is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, while headquarters of its Allied Command Operations is near Mons, Belgium.
NATO system constitutes of collective defence whereby its independent member states agree to mutual defence in response to attack by any external party. The combined military spending of all NATO members constitutes over 70% of the global defence spending.

Month: Current Affairs - May, 2018