Jens Stoltenberg (born 16 March 1959) is a Norwegian politician who has been serving as the 13th secretary general of NATO since 2014. A member of the Norwegian Labour Party, he previously served as the 34th prime minister of Norway from 2000 to 2001, and again from 2005 until 2013.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday (30 June 2022) said NATO leaders signed off on key decisions, including a fundamental strengthening of NATO's deterrence and defence, an invitation to Finland and Sweden to join NATO and long-term support to Ukraine.
NATO's Command Structure is under the authority of the Military Committee, NATO's highest military authority composed of the Chiefs of Defence of all twenty-nine member countries.
In 2021, the United States had the largest number of military personnel out of all North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries, with 1.35 million troops.
Plans for NATO membership were shelved by Ukraine following the 2010 presidential election in which Viktor Yanukovych, who preferred to keep the country non-aligned, was elected President. Amid the unrest, caused by the Euromaidan protests, Yanukovych fled Ukraine in February 2014.
In April this year, the four countries participated in NATO's foreign ministerial meeting and they agreed to continue supporting Ukraine and to step up cooperation given the "global implications" of Russia's war on Ukraine. Australia, Japan and South Korea are all U.S. security allies.
The United States has been the postwar leader in trans- atlantic security relations under NATO since its found- ing in 1949.
Christopher Cavoli currently commands U.S. Army forces in Europe and will succeed Gen. Tod Wolters as the head of U.S. European Command and NATO supreme allied commander. The Senate has signed off on President Joe Biden's nominee to lead U.S. forces in Europe and be NATO's top commander.
From 1992-1995, NATO conducted several military operations in Bosnia, including enforcing a no-fly-zone and providing air support for UN peacekeepers. These activities were mandated by the United Nations Security Council, of which Russia is a member.
On 10 March 1966, President Charles de Gaulle announced France was officially withdrawing from NATO. The country would no longer host any NATO bases. The SHAPE, or Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers of Europe, which is in charge of NATO military planning, was relocated from Paris to Brussels.
Greece. In 1964, due to the Cyprus crisis, Greece withdrew military units from NATO forces in the Southern Mediterranean, over threats of invasion of Cyprus by fellow NATO member Turkey. Later in 1974 due to the invasion of Cyprus by Turkish forces, Greece withdrew from NATO military command.
Six EU member states, all who have declared their non-alignment with military alliances, are not NATO members: Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Ireland, Malta, and Sweden. Additionally, Switzerland, which is surrounded by the EU, has also maintained their neutrality by remaining a non-EU-member.
In March 2015, Russia, citing NATO's de facto breach of the 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, said that the suspension of its participation in it, announced in 2007, was now "complete" through halting its participation in the consulting group on the Treaty.
India is not a member of NATO and there are many reasons for not being a member country of NATO. The first and main reason is India is not in the North Atlantic or anywhere close to the Atlantic.
At present, NATO has 30 members.
Top 10 Countries with the Highest Number of Active-Duty Military Personnel (in members): China - 2.2M. India - 1.5M. United States - 1.4M.
The United States participates in two commands in Europe, its own and NATO's Allied Command, Europe. The command structures are similarly organized and have basically the same overall mission, to provide a combat-ready force to deter aggression from the Warsaw Pact nations.
Since 1949, NATO has increased its collective military power. Today it has the capability to count on nearly 3.5-million personnel, troops and civilian combined.
The force has grown from 13,000 troops to 40,000 since 2014, with many of those based along the alliance's eastern flank, from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south.
The 12 founding member countries of NATO are Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States.