2019 NATO Summit underway in London

The 2019 NATO Summit is currently underway at the Grove Hotel in Watford, just outside London. It will be held on the 3rd and 4th of December.

This edition of the summit is significant because it is the 70th anniversary of the military alliance. Queen Elizabeth will host a reception for the world leaders at the Buckingham Palace on 3rd December to mark this momentous occasion.

However, in the past few years, tensions have risen among the member states themselves, with President of the United States, Donald Trump accusing the European member nations of not contributing enough. Also, President Emmanuel Macron of France last month said that the alliance was ‘brain dead’ as many member states were not cooperating on a diverse range of critical issues.

Who is attending the Summit?

The Summit is being attended by heads of states of most member nations. President of the United States, Donald Trump; Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson; Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau; Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel; President of France, Emmanuel Macron; and President of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdogan will attend the summit.

What is NATO?

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an intergovernmental political and military alliance of 29 North American and European nations. According to the website, NATO’s purpose is to guarantee the freedom and security of its members through political and military means.

It was found in 1949 by the United States and European nations as a defence against the aggression by the Soviet Union. The founding members had a pact that any attack against one of the nations would be considered an attack against all of them and all the allies would retaliate against the aggressor.

Currently, its member nations include Albania (2009), Belgium (1949), Bulgaria (2004), Canada (1949), Croatia (2009), Czech Republic (1999), Denmark (1949), Estonia (2004), France (1949), Germany (1955), Greece (1952), Hungary (1999), Iceland (1949), Italy (1949), Latvia (2004), Lithuania (2004), Luxembourg (1949), Montenegro (2017), Netherlands (1949), Norway (1949), Poland (1999), Portugal (1949), Romania (2004), Slovakia (2004), Slovenia (2004), Spain (1982), Turkey (1952), The United Kingdom (1949), The United States (1949)

The previous summit was held in Brussels in Belgium in July 2018.