A Comparative Study of Article 5 of the NATO and Article 42(7) of the Treaty on The European Union

Over the past decades, Europe has enjoyed an extraordinary period of peace, but this has not been achieved without any cost. Indeed, the membership of European states within the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has played a key role, primarily through their commitment to mutual defence, contained in Art. 42 (7) of the Treaty of the European Union and Art. 5 NATO Charter. By establishing such clauses, the signatory parties commit to support each other in case of attack against any of them. Despite their importance in ensuring the security of all allies, scenarios such as the 9/11 terrorist attack on the US or the 2016 terrorist attacks in Paris showed their limitations when the affected states invoked these clauses.

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Navigating the Green Horizon: NATO’s Emission Reduction Initiatives and the Pursuit of Sustainability

Climate change is widely acknowledged as one of the most pressing issues today. As time passes, the environmental repercussions and global impact of greenhouse gas emissions grow increasingly apparent, leaving no alternative but to act. All industrial and commercial sectors must work together to drastically minimise their effect on our planet and avoid a global disaster. This encompasses the long-ignored global military industry, including its supply chain, which uses enormous amounts of fossil fuels and accounts for a significant portion of government spending.

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Danish F-16s: Ukraine or Argentina?

In mid-2023, Denmark, the Netherlands and Norway pledged to train Ukrainian pilots and donate several F-16s to help Ukraine defend itself against the ongoing Russian invasion (Breaking Defence, 2023; Dubois, 2023). More recently, the US Congress approved the transfer of 24 Royal Danish Air Force F-16s to Argentina after White House pressure, in a deal reportedly worth $338 million (Segovia, 2023). However, while this development contradicts the recent Western pledge to support Ukraine, by apparently deviating to another country the Danish planes publicly earmarked for Kyiv, it will be argued that they do not conflict because of equal geopolitical priorities and, thus, can mutually complement.

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Italy’s New Defence Plan: Nuclear Readiness Exercises, New German Tanks and Billions in Expenditures

The commitment of Prime Minister Meloni to military spending became tangible after the Defence Ministry released, with an unusual delay of six months, its budget projections for 2023-2025. Integrated expenditures for defence are set to reach an all-time high of €31.4 billion in 2025, a €2 billion increase from 2022. Italian expenses for procurement are expected to rise by 43% in the next two years, with €4.6 billion allocated to thirteen new military programmes.

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Eastern EU Members Rearm after the Russian Invasion: Soaring Military Expenditures, Tank Modernisation and Two New Rising Axes of Army Interoperability

After the annexation of Crimea, every EU country that was either associated within the Warsaw Pact or part of the Soviet Union became a founding member of the Bucharest Nine (B9) initiative to discuss defence concerns in yearly summits. In those countries, now increasingly referred to as ‘Europe’s eastern flank’, allied military presence increased sevenfold to 300,000 units just four months into the Russian invasion. Their unyielding defence intent, stated during NATO’s summit in Vilnius, is reflected in B9’s growing military spending, which is bound to shape NATO’s most prominent defence transformation and modernisation effort since the Cold War. 

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