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CodingJeebus

Never thought I'd see NATO under such pressure in my lifetime.

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Under those conditions, one could wonder if NATO is still actually a thing.

If the Europeans plus Canada want it to exist, it exists. Otherwise, yeah, scrap heap of history.

EU has it's own more robust defence agreement.

Can Canada join, or has it? Other non-EU countries?

I'm sure Canada could join Operation Arctic Endurance; has it yet?

How is it more robust? There is no EU army, is there?

The EU defence clause is more binding than the NATO Article 5. It also demands that the other states * obligation of aid and assistance by all the means in their power* whereas Article 5 let's other states decide how much aid they want to supply

There's no NATO army either.

Just check for “NATO troops”. That’s a term that exists and mean something.

It means something, but doesn't imply the existence of a NATO rmy

ok, but now we’re nit-picking about the meaning of “army”. There are “NATO troops” while there aren’t “EU Troops”.

I would still like to understand why previous poster said the EU defense agreement was more robust, I am genuinely curious about what that agreement contains and how well it was respected in the past.

> I am genuinely curious about what that agreement contains and how well it was respected in the past.

Easy enough to find[1]. Here[2] is a nice article which digs a bit deeper into how it might play out.

[1]: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/EN/legal-content/glossary/mutual-d... (links to the treaty section if you want the text verbatim)

[2]: https://www.politico.eu/article/5-things-to-know-about-the-e...

> ok, but now we’re nit-picking about the meaning of “army”.

You started nitpicking...

NATO is 32 countries with a Dutch guy as the head. Without the US there'd still be a lot of armed forces - infographic: https://www.visualcapitalist.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/...

Mark Rutte is more of an administrator than truly the head of NATO. A spokesperson. NATO is a committee.

If a NATO country invades another NATO country, what do the other 30 countries do?

That's a bit outside the design of NATO I think. The rules say NATO countries should be nice to each other but the present situation wasn't planned for.

Ask the US to stop it?

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