Argentina recently requested to join the National Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), setting the framework for higher political and security cooperation as the country’s president, Javier Milei, seeks to deepen ties with the West.
Argentina submitted a request to become a global partner of NATO pic.twitter.com/XP8dCO3YHG
— What the media hides. (@narrative_hole) April 18, 2024
The proposal to join NATO was made while Argentine Defense Minister Luis Petri and NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana discussed regional security issues occurring in Brussels, according to One America News (OAN).
Geoana said he approved Argentina’s plea to join NATO as a member nation.
Milei said that joining NATO would provide Argentina with access to the latest technology, security measures and training that the country could not previously obtain.
“Argentina plays an important role in Latin America,” Geoana said while visiting NATO’s headquarters. “Closer political and practical cooperation could benefit us both.”
OAN pointed out that reversing years of trade protectionist policies, massive spending and diminishing foreign debt that have sent Argentina’s economy into disarray is Milei’s goal.
The Argentinian president has changed the country’s foreign policy during the past four months he has been in office.
Milei’s administration seeks to strengthen relations with the West in an effort to enhance Argentina’s security.
For the first time in two decades, the U.S. government recently announced that it would provide Argentina with $40 million in foreign military aid.
The funds, which are meant to support Argentina’s military build-up and equipment acquisition, pave the way to help fund 24 American F-16 fighter jets that Argentina previously purchased from Denmark.
Petri praised the acquisition of the warplanes as “the most important military purchase since Argentina’s return to Democracy” in 1983.
Milei’s rivals in the political world have criticized the massive price tag of the fighter planes.
For Argentina to join NATO, all 32 countries in the alliance must agree to such a proposal.
Since entering a conflict in 1982, Argentina and England — a key NATO member — have had tense relations over the disputed Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic.
NATIO allies include Afghanistan, Australia, the Republic of Korea, Mongolia, New Zealand and Pakistan. The only Latin American country currently in NATO is Colombia.
A country’s NATO allies may not defend it from an attack solely because it has received the title of “global partner.”
