Hawaii senators want Islands under NATO protection

HONOLULU (KHON2) — Hawaii Sen. Brian Schatz sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken with the request to include Hawaii under Article 6 of the Northern Atlantic Treaty Organization on Tuesday.

Hawaii Sen. Mazie Hirono also signed off on the letter, which cites growing military threats in the Indo-Pacific region as the reason to provide NATO protection to Hawaii. Three other Democratic senators, one Independent and five Republicans signed the letter as well.

Article 6 of NATO’s treaty states an armed attack against one party is considered an attack against all of them and necessitates collective self-defense.

Sen. Schatz said under current guidelines, an attack on Hawaii would not be seen as an attack on all NATO countries and therefore would not warrant collective self-defense. He would like the State Department to amend the treaty and take short-term measures to include clarifying statements from NATO regarding the language of the treaty.

The senators said in part through the letter:

“When the Senate Foreign Relations Committee recommended the Senate ratify the North Atlantic Treaty in 1949, it was with the understanding that overseas territories would not be covered by Article 6. At the time, Hawai‘i was a U.S. territory and the drafters of the Treaty were reluctant to include all territories of the Treaty Parties under the NATO security umbrella. However, the world has changed significantly since 1949. Not only did Hawai‘i become a U.S. state, the importance of the Indo-Pacific to U.S. security has increased tremendously. Although since 1949, NATO’s footprint has expanded from 12 founding members to 32, the alliance has not accounted for the inclusion of Hawai‘i as the 50th state of the union. The alliance also has not accounted for the strategic importance of the Indo-Pacific – and the need to deter destabilizing regional conflict – or the need to be more responsive and respectful toward Hawai‘i residents,” the senators wrote.

NATO was created in 1949 and consisted of 12 member nations from North America and Europe with the original intent to provide collective security against the Soviet Union.
The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia, Albania, Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Estonia, Finland and Sweden joined NATO since the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991.

The full letter can be read below:

Sen. Schatz was unavailable for an interview on Wednesday.