NATO Article 5: What Is Article 5 Of The NATO Treaty? How Many Times Has Article 5 Been Invoked?

Article 5 provides that if a NATO Ally is the victim of an armed attack, each and every other member of the Alliance will consider this act of violence as an armed attack against all members and will take the actions it deems necessary to assist the Ally attacked.

NATO Article 5 establishes solidarity amongst member states.

On September 12, 2001, the day after the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center and Pentagon, NATO invoked Article 5 for the first time in its history, committing its members to stand by the United States in its response to the attacks.

NATO and Article 5 were established in 1949 in the aftermath of World War II when Communist movements supported by the Soviet Union posed a serious threat to democratically elected governments all over a devastated Europe.

How Many Times Has Article 5 Been Invoked?
The article, as the cornerstone of a treaty signed in 1949, has been invoked only once. Article 5 is the cornerstone of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).