NATO (topic)
The Baltic States’ admission to NATO is currently the most pressing topic in the Baltic. NATO is the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It’s a military alliance of Western nations for the purpose of collective defense. It was established in 1949. NATO’s member States are: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany (since 1955), Greece (1952), Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain (1982), Turkey (1952), UK, USA. Poland and Czech were admitted this year.
If the Baltic States support the program – “Partnership for Peace” to the fullest extent, they will be admitted as well. Baltic military forces take part in NATO maneuvers and it’s a concrete benefit, as Baltic States want to be admitted as full members.
There are lots of different opinions on what is better for a small country: to be a member of a military organization or to be a neutral country. There are various advantages and disadvantages of both. It’s said, that preparation of Lithuania to join NATO requires from 8 to 10 mln. Litas. That is why it would be more beneficial to modernize the economics of Lithuania, than to spend huge sums of money on joining NATO. Moreover some people say, that the threat of war is only our imagination. For example, during the period of 1944-1953 lots of men were killed, but it was impossible to confirm the act of independence. Meanwhile, in 1990 the independence was restored without any war or guns. So, it would be better to spend money on solving social and economical problems than on joining NATO.
In conclusion the opponents of “Lithuania in NATO” consider, that Lithuania should seeks to be a neutral country. The proponents of “Lithuania in NATO” suggest that joining NATO would confirm the stability of Lithuania. Lithuania is tiny country and the enemies can be too strong and powerful to fight with. So, NATO could help in case in the threat of war.