US President Donald Trump has sharply criticized the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which currently has 32 members, calling it a "paper tiger" and stating that his country is seriously considering withdrawing from the alliance.
This stance has mainly formed against the backdrop of tensions around Iran. Trump believes that while the US provides serious support to its allies, European countries do not respond adequately to Washington's military initiatives.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio also said that after the war with Iran ends, Washington will have to reconsider its relations with NATO: "The value of NATO for our country will have to be reconsidered. As a result, this is a decision the president will make."
Rubio recalled that NATO allies have rejected US demands to use their military bases on their territory: "We do not want them to conduct air strikes on Iran. When we need permission to use their military bases, we receive a refusal. So why are we in NATO? If we are not allowed to use these bases when needed, why are all these American forces deployed in the region?"
Some experts evaluate the recent statements of Trump and Rubio not as empty declarations but as strategic signals aimed at the future of the Western alliance, stating that a possible US exit from NATO could put the entire alliance's future in question and fundamentally change the security architecture.
Medianews.az notes that NATO was founded in 1949 by the US, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Canada, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, and Portugal.
Turkey and Greece joined the organization in 1952.
West Germany (from 1990 Germany) became a NATO member in 1955.
Spain joined the military-political alliance in 1982.
The NATO membership of the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland was formalized in 1999.
Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia have been represented in NATO since 2004.
Albania and Croatia's membership began in 2009.
Montenegro has been in the alliance since 2017.
North Macedonia was added to NATO ranks in 2020.
Finland joined the organization in 2023, and Sweden in 2024.
NATO's headquarters is located in Brussels, the capital of Belgium.
Since October 2024, NATO's Secretary General is Mark Rutte. Before being elected to this position, he served nearly 14 years as the Prime Minister of the Netherlands.