As Finland plans to join Nato, a look at how countries join the alliance

Nato's membership has increased from 12 to 30 countries through eight rounds of enlargement. The Republic of North Macedonia became the latest country to join Nato on March 27, 2020

On march 1, 2023, Finland's parliament approved legislation that paves the way for the country to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (Nato). Both Finland and Sweden abandoned decades of non-alignment in the region after Russia began its "special military operation" and invaded Ukrainian territory last year.

Nato was founded in 1949 with 12 original signatories. However, Nato's "Open door policy", based on Article 10 of its founding treaty, allows it to admit new members within its folds. Any decision to invite a country to the alliance is made on the basis of consensus among all allies. 

Nato's membership has increased from 12 to 30 countries over eight rounds of enlargement. The admission of a new member to the alliance involves various steps. Here, we've listed them for you.

Step 1

There are various eligibility criteria that countries have to fulfil in order to receive an invitation to join Nato. These include:

• The country must be a European country.
•  The country should have a political system based on democratic principles.
•  It must contribute to the security of the Euro-Atlantic area.

Step 2

Membership Action Plan (Map)

Since no two countries are alike, every country may require a different approach to joining the Nato. Map facilitates tailored advice and support on different aspects of Nato membership. This support ranges from defence and military to political and legal issues.

Step 3

After the country has submitted the necessary forms, accession talks are held. Over the course of these talks, the invitee country accepts the rights, commitments, and obligations of Nato membership. After this step, every existing member of the alliance has to sign and ratify the accession protocol.

Step 4

As a final step, the invitee country needs to adopt and deposit its own bill of ratification to join Nato. Countries do so in accordance with their own established democratic procedures. For some countries, this step may require a national referendum, while others may do it with a simple parliamentary vote. Once a ratification bill is officially passed, the country becomes a Nato member.

The Republic of North Macedonia became the latest country to join Nato on March 27, 2020. Currently, five other countries have declared their aspirations for Nato membership. These countries include Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, Georgia, Sweden, and Ukraine.