NATO Membership
March 3, 2023•546 words
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"Austria should accept responsibility and join the NATO alliance." I agree.
There are quite a few countries in Europe that should join NATO: Sweden, Finland, Ireland, Malta, Cyprus, Austria, even Switzerland.
Because of Sweden and Finland's geolocation, their membership in NATO has become critical, and they understand this. That is why they are joining. The president should ensure our allies, Hungary and Turkey, know we expect them to approve their memberships to the alliance soon.
Ireland is just as critical, because they are not landlocked. They are a little more secure than Finland and Sweden because they are much farther away from Russia, and they do not share a border with Russia. But Russia is frequently conducting naval exercises in the Atlantic and Ireland should consider that as a real security threat. I think Ireland would like to join the alliance now, and we should encourage their membership.
Switzerland and Austria are less critical, because they are landlocked and surrounded by NATO territory. Switzerland has long been a neutral country, and no one really expects that to ever change. But we would accept Switzerland as a member if they wanted to join NATO. Some members of the Swiss government were proposing the idea of joining the alliance at the start of the war. We won't discourage it. But unlike Switzerland, Austria is a member of the EU, and they should consider joining the alliance out of a responsibility to participate in our collective security.
Small island states in the Mediterranean like Malta and Cyprus would be extremely beneficial to NATO because of their geolocation, especially Cyprus. Turkey would oppose Cyprus as a member of NATO, so diplomats have to be more strategic. First they have to solve the differences between Turkey, Greece and Cyprus - that's the biggest challenge. Then pull Cyprus away from Russia - the easy part. Then persuade Cyprus to join NATO - also easy. I think Cyprus would love to join. They are already talking about it.
Then there are several countries in Europe that the USA has ignored. Many of them were pulled into the Russian sphere of influence because the USA ignored them. The USA essentially assumed those countries wanted to be aligned with Russia without even asking them. I think they prefer to be aligned with the EU and the USA, but they are still extremely vulnerable to Russian influence and aggression. Moldova, Georgia and Armenia are some of the countries I am referring to. I think even Serbia, really wants out of the Russian sphere of influence. I think they want to know they will have support from the West, but they are afraid to even ask for it. If they ask for our support, and we don't give it to them, they will be in the same situation as Ukraine. They are not as strong as Ukraine.
These vulnerable countries are very critical to European security, because Russia can so easily destabilize them. So it's critical to give them the support they need, and provide them with the security they need, even though they do not meet NATO requirements yet. We have to create a path to security and stability for all of the countries in Europe.