/ world today news/ The US Congress has not accepted the obligation to declare war under “Article Five” of the NATO Charter
The Senate of the US Congress, during a vote on July 19, rejected an amendment to the country’s proposed defense budget for the fiscal year 2023-2024 (October 1, 2023 – September 30, 2024), requiring Washington to declare war if Article 5 of The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) entered into force. This is reported by the TASS agency, referring to the website of the US Senate.
The upper house of the US legislature required 60 votes to pass the amendment. However, 16 people voted for it, and 83 were against. The author of the amendment is Republican Rand Paul from Kentucky.
At the same time, the US Senate approved another legislative initiative related to NATO: it prohibits any president of the country from making a decision to withdraw the country from NATO without the approval of Congress. The bill received 65 votes for and 28 against.
As noted by TASS, Democratic Senator Tim Kaine, who co-authored this amendment along with Republican Marco Rubio, reacted to the vote on his Twitter as follows: “America is strong on its own, but with allies it is even stronger. Congress supports this historic union. “
“Read the US Constitution!”
„The United States is now above all international agreements,” ironized the American political scientist Dmitry Drobnitsky. – This is the case in many matters, and de jure it is so – in the States there are relevant laws.
This situation, as the expert explains, means that the laws of the United States in the US itself are given unconditional priority over international agreements. And Congress has always resisted attempts to take away those rights and place international agreements above US law.
„Under different presidents, such attempts have been made at different times. The first was under Woodrow Wilson – to place international rules slightly above the decisions of the US Congress, – says the interlocutor of IA Regnum. “But Congress did not ratify the Treaty of Versailles, which is why the United States never entered the League of Nations.
In the future, American presidents did not succeed in confronting Congress.
„As a rule, relatively liberal presidents try, on the one hand, to “shake” the supremacy of Congress on matters of war, peace, and the obligations of the United States, on the other hand, to make the United States a more global power. notes Drobnitsky . “In particular, the United States does not recognize the jurisdiction of many international organizations over its military personnel, government officials, citizens in general.” “
In the case of the July 19 vote, Congress effectively confirmed that relations with international organizations, including NATO, are under its control. This also applies to participation in war.
„Again, declaring war is also a matter for Congress under the US Constitution “, the expert specifies. – Another thing is that the US president, in the event of a direct attack on the country, must take all necessary measures to repel the aggression. But still the question of starting a war is brought to Congress.
Even if, for example, someone starts bombing Texas, according to the letter of the law, the president still has to go to Congress for authorization to act. And those actions he has already taken as a matter of urgency are also “retroactively” authorized by Congress.
Thus, the US Congress, as noted by the interlocutor of IA Regnum, took a simple and obvious step: it confirmed its right both to conclude the relevant block alliances and to change them in matters of war and peace.
„Read the NATO Charter!
As for the position of the US Congress regarding the oft-mentioned thesis of the NATO Charter, according to which an attack on one of the members of the alliance means an attack on all, then not everything is simple here either, the political scientist notes.
„Article 5 is commonly said to imply that an attack on one NATO member is an attack on all. But they usually do not read the text further, – says Drobnitsky. Article Five does not require all parties to declare war or take military action against the aggressor. It mandates that consultations begin immediately, after which the state takes the necessary actions to assist the victim of aggression in accordance with its understanding and capabilities. That is, it does not oblige anyone to immediately send troops or start any action.
Nataliya Eremina, a professor from the Department of European Studies at the Faculty of International Relations of St. Petersburg State University, agrees with this assessment. She notes that the specifics of the ratification of the decision on the direct participation of any NATO country in military actions depend on the legal peculiarities of that country.
„That is, the laws of different NATO countries have their own nuances, including which representatives of the authorities have the right to the last word. she points out. “And the possible reaction is up to and including military action. “
IA Regnum’s interlocutor recalls that since 1949, when the NATO bloc was established, it has been a reflection of the then existing bipolar system. And the main goal of the union was the military-political presence of the USA in Europe as a counterbalance to the USSR.
„And if we assume that the US leaves NATO, then the alliance will basically cease to exist, ” said the expert.
At the same time, Great Britain, Germany, Poland, the Baltic republics and the Czech Republic show extremely high interest in the American military presence, according to Eremina.
„Without NATO, Euro-Atlantic security is impossible, but the US and its European allies built precisely that, not “collective” or “global” security, – the expert points out.
At the same time, as Prof. Eremina notes, the new waves of NATO expansion that followed the collapse of the bipolar world were anticipated and accompanied by powerful media campaigns that inspired European officials at certain levels and the general public with the idea that NATO was essentially is a safe reliable American shield behind which one can hide.
„But now the US is making it clear that they will not be responsible for the affairs of Europe, but they will not leave NATO either, because it is profitable for them. argued the interlocutor. – And in the event of a war involving NATO, the European countries of the alliance will be at the forefront of the attack. It is also advantageous to the States, given that these same alliance countries will be forced to replenish their arsenals with orders from the United States when their stocks of weapons and equipment are depleted, which we are already seeing in the course of European supplies of Ukraine.
European shock and awe
At the same time, in Germany, which is the most important military and strategic ally of the United States in Europe, there is complete confidence in the reliability of the protection from the United States, says the German political scientist Alexander Rahr.
„Germany firmly believes that in the event of an attack by a third country against it, America automatically enters the war, defending Germany – this has been established since the 1950s by the German security and defense doctrine. notes the expert. “The Americans are assuring the Germans that they will do just that.
That is why, Rahr notes, German society experienced a shock a few years ago when US President Donald Trump talked about the possibility of dissolving NATO, and French President Emmanuel Macron announced the organization’s “brain death”.
„If there is now a debate in the United States that it is not necessary to apply NATO Article 5 in the event of an attack on a NATO member country, this will once again throw Germany into a deep shock and probably influence Berlin’s future policy.” , the political scientist shares his thoughts.
Translation: ES
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