BUENOS AIRES – Within the framework of its alignment with the powers of the Western world, the government of President Javier Milei asked the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (I TAKE) what Argentina be a global partner of that military alliance.
The Argentine Minister of Defense, Luis Petri, met in Brussels with the Deputy Secretary General of NATO, Mircea Geoana, and presented him with a “letter of intent” with this request, presidential spokesman Manuel Adorni announced Thursday at a press conference.
Any decision on an association with that organization would require the consensus of its 32 member countries, among which is the United States.
According to Adorni, becoming a global partner would allow the South American country to increase military and defensive capabilities through multinational and advanced technology exercises, as well as participate in strategic debates and decisions.
“Global partners”
Argentina could join a group of countries that, as global partners, “are already accessing the benefits of participating in this alliance, such as Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan,” Adorni stated.
Outside of its formal partnership structures, NATO cooperates with a number of so-called world partner countries on an individual basis. In Latin America, Colombia is in that category.
Meanwhile, Geoana said at the end of his meeting with Minister Petri that he welcomed “the request to explore the possibility of becoming a NATO partner.”
The official noted that the organization “works with various countries around the world to promote peace and stability” and “closer political and practical cooperation could benefit us both.”
Geoana also thanked Argentina for its support of Ukraine with vital humanitarian aid, including food, medicine and support for refugees.
The political dialogue of that Atlantic alliance with Argentina began in the early 1990s. Buenos Aires later contributed to NATO peace support operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo.
According to the organization’s website, engagement with global partners—currently nine—is becoming increasingly important in a complex security environment, “in which many of the challenges facing the Alliance are global and are no longer limited by geography.
Milei, an economist who came to power in December, has entered into a strategic alliance with the United States – a NATO member – and Israel and has expressed his desire to align with the Western world.
One of the members of the Atlantic military alliance is Great Britain, a country with which Argentina fought a war in 1982 over the Malvinas Islands, in the South Atlantic, whose sovereignty the South American nation continues to claim.
Other Western members include Germany, Belgium, Spain, France and Italy.
NATO is committed to the peaceful resolution of disputes, but can undertake military operations under the collective defense clause of the organization’s founding treaty, mandated by the United Nations, alone or in cooperation with other countries and international organizations.
Source: AP
