Qatar won’t join NATO as alliance is ‘for N. America and Europe’ – Stoltenberg

Qatar could not join NATO, the alliance’s Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday. “NATO is an alliance for North America and for Europe. That is stated in Article 10 of our founding treaty,” he said. “So members of the alliance have to be countries in North America – US, Canada – and Europe. So NATO is not an alliance that will go beyond North America and Europe.” According to the NATO chief, the alliance welcomes the partnership with Qatar, as with several partner nations in the Gulf region. On Tuesday, Qatar’s defense minister was quoted as saying that the country has a long-term strategic “ambition” to join NATO.