NATO (acronym for North Atlantic Treaty Organization – North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is one of the main international institutions and consists of aintergovernmental alliance military and political, in the sector of defense and collective security, founded in 1949. It is made up of 32 member countriesof which 30 are European (including Italy) and 2 North American (United States and Canada). Its headquarters is located in Brusselswhile the military headquarters is in Mgrboth in Belgium. Each of the member countries pays a different annual amount (in absolute terms) to contribute to the expenses and therefore to the budget of the organization, but which must in any case aim at least at 2% of its GDP (a quota not reached by everyone, including Italy). The USA is clearly in the lead in terms of absolute annual contribution and on several occasions the newly elected president Donald Trump he said that during his second presidency he would like to bring about the 5% of GDP the threshold share to be dedicated to the organization by all member states.
The list and map of the 32 NATO member countries
NATO is made up of 32 member countriesof which 30 Europeans And 2 North Americansi.e. United States and Canada. Each member country has a permanent delegation in Brussels and contributes both financially and with operational forces to the organization’s budget and missions. Due to the large number of European member countries, NATO and the European Union have close cooperative ties, such as in the field of maritime security with Operation Irini in the Mediterranean.
Here it is list of 32 countries: Albania, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Montenegro, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, United Kingdom, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, United States, Turkey, Hungary, North Macedonia, Finland and Sweden.
Below is one dedicated card:
Associate member countries and prospective members
In addition to the 32 member countries, NATO counts with 11 associated member countries: Armenia, Assembly of Kosovo, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Malta, Moldova, Serbia, Switzerland, Ukraine – and 4 Associate Member Countries of the Mediterranean: Algeria, Jordan, Israel, Morocco.
Among European countries Austria, Ireland, Malta and Switzerland are not part of NATO: neutral countries with market economies during the Cold War. Also Cyprus it is currently not part of NATO, due to the delicate internal political situation which caused Turkey to block its membership. The last NATO membership was that of Sweden, joined the Alliance on March 7, 2024, an element that has given rise to tensions with third countries such as Russia. Furthermore, NATO currently recognizes Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia and Ukraine as aspiring member countries.
How member countries contribute to NATO’s budget
Since 2014, NATO member countries have agreed to work towards the goal of allocating at least the 2% of GDP to defense spending, in response to growing international geopolitical tensions, including Russia’s forced annexation of Crimea. However, not all countries have met this threshold by 2024. Furthermore, members have committed to allocating at least 20% of the defense budget to investments and to contribute to NATO missions and operations. Speaking of the annual fee, recently the newly elected US President Donald Trump has stated that it intends to raise the current threshold from 2% to 5% of the GDP of the Member States during his second mandate.
They exist anyway two types of contributions of member countries to the organisation’s budget: contributions direct they indirect. The direct ones concern economic contributions for annual programs and the command structure and infrastructure and are calculated based on the GDP of the member countries. The contributions indirect instead they are the national operational forces provided to the Organization and are on a voluntary basis: we remind you that only in the cases provided for byart. 5 of the Atlantic Pact and therefore in cases of collective defense, the obligation to contribute in terms of means and/or soldiers is triggered.
