By Richard Mann, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Jens Stoltenberg, denied on Friday (3rd) that Brazil could join the bloc. However, in an interview with Reuters, he said that the country – alike other Latin American countries – could become “a very close partner” of the group.
During President Jair Bolsonaro’s visit to Washington, U.S. President Donald Trump said he wanted Brazil as an “extra-Nato priority ally” or even “a member of NATO.”
However, only European countries, in addition to the United States, Canada and Turkey, are part of the alliance.
Asked if Brazil could ever be part of the bloc, Stoltenberg denied, “Partners are not members, but very close partners,” he said.
“We work very closely with our partners, practically and politically, this is a very good way to strengthen cooperation between NATO and countries that are not part of the alliance,” added Stoltenberg.
Colombia received NATO’s global partner status in 2017 – the first in Latin America. The organization also has partnerships with Australia, New Zealand and even European countries which are not part of the alliance, such as Sweden and Finland.
With the status, Colombia and NATO can participate in cooperation. However, Colombians are not part of the collective defense pact, meaning that they would not need to participate in military action directed by the entire alliance – nor would they necessarily have the support of the entire alliance if they were to be attacked.
Asked about Brazil, Stoltenberg said it was possible for Brazil to become a global partner of NATO, but he did not guarantee that this would happen.
“Well, someone would have to propose and Brazil itself would have to request it. We agreed with Colombia to become a close partner, so it is completely possible to include other Latin American countries,” he said.
“But we would have to receive an express request [from the countries] of Latin America and, of course, we would need to discuss [the possible partnership] with all 29 NATO member countries,” Stoltenberg concluded.
Colombia’s status is not the same as what Brazil had been advocating with Trump: that of becoming an extra-Nato priority ally of the United States.
That is due to the fact that this title concerns a bilateral military partnership with the U.S., without involving the international alliance.
By entering the list of extra-Nato allies of the U.S., Brazil would succeed:
* In becoming a preferred buyer of U.S. military equipment and technology;
* In participating in auctions organized by the Pentagon to sell military products;
* In gaining priority to promote military training with the U.S. Armed Forces.