Nato shoots down Qatar’s membership ambition

brussles — Nato on Wednesday declined an overture by Qatar to join the Western military defence alliance, saying membership was reserved to the United States and Europe. It was responding to a comment by Qatar’s defence minister on Tuesday that his country’s long-term strategic “ambition” was to join Nato. “According to Article 10 of the Washington Treaty, only European countries can become members of Nato,” an official of the 29-country alliance said. “Qatar is a valuable and longstanding partner of Nato,” the official said.

Speaking on the anniversary of a bitter year-long diplomatic dispute among Gulf nations that has seen Qatar isolated from its former regional allies, Defence Minister Khalid bin Mohamed Al-Attiyah said Qatar wanted to become a full member of Nato.

“Regarding the membership, we are a main ally from outside NATO... The ambition is full membership if our partnership with Nato develops and our vision is clear,” Attiyah told the official magazine of the Qatari defence ministry, Altalaya. —