", "Vui: Full support for the territorial integrity of Ukraine PHOTO / VIDEO English", "Serbia will not impose sanctions against Moscow, president says", "Serbia Supports Ukraine's Sovereignty But Opposes Sanctions on Russia, Vucic says", "Colombia Minister Says No to NATO Membership", "Qatar eyes full NATO membership: Defense minister", "Trump suggests admitting Brazil to NATO alliance", "France rejects Trump demand to give Brazil NATO membership", "Sprungbrett nach Westafrika David X. Noack", "Cape Verde plans security treaty with NATO", "Alex Salmond gains slim SNP vote for joining Nato", "The military implications of Catalonian secessionan update". Romania is a current member of both NATO and the European Union.[281]. History in the making: On 23 October 1954 the North Atlantic Council invited Germany to join the Alliance ( NATO) West Germany's accession to NATO 50 years ago on 6 May 1955 took place against the backdrop of both East-West conflict and the project of European integration. One of the main sticking points of re-unification, however, was that if East Germany joined the Federal Republic it would become a part of NATO. [153] These ideological divides were visible in November 2006 when Sweden could either buy two new transport planes or join NATO's plane pool, and in December 2006, when Sweden was invited to join the NATO Response Force. [62], Croatia also started a Membership Action Plan at the 2002 summit, but was not included in the 2004 enlargement. Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Enlargement_of_NATO&oldid=1152325818, Enlargement of intergovernmental organizations, Events affected by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia extended-confirmed-protected pages, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2022, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Wikipedia articles needing clarification from March 2022, Articles containing potentially dated statements from October 2022, Articles with unsourced statements from April 2023, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Willingness to settle international, ethnic or external territorial disputes by peaceful means, commitment to the rule of law and human rights, and democratic control of armed forces, Ability to contribute to the organization's defense and missions, Devotion of sufficient resources to armed forces to be able to meet the commitments of membership, Security of sensitive information, and safeguards ensuring it, Compatibility of domestic legislation with NATO cooperation, Goldgeier, James. [41] By mid-1992, a consensus emerged within the administration that NATO enlargement was a wise realpolitik measure to strengthen Euro-American hegemony. [204] US President Barack Obama echoed this position the following week, while calling for greater NATO presence in Central Europe. The formation of the Warsaw Pact was in some ways a response to the creation of NATO, although it did not occur until six years after the Western alliance came into being. . All Nato members have agreed Ukraine will eventually join, says But Hungary, which joined Nato in 1999, has already shown a willingness to oppose the expansion of the alliance. Poland held multiparty elections in June 1989 that ousted the Soviet allied Polish Workers' Party and the peaceful opening of the Berlin Wall that November symbolized the end of the Warsaw Pact as a way of enforcing Soviet control. East Germany became a member of the Warsaw Pact when it was formed a few days later on 22 May 1955. [98], As NATO Secretary General Willy Claes noted, the 1995 study did not specify the "who or when,"[99] though it discussed how the then newly formed Partnership for Peace and North Atlantic Cooperation Council could assist in the enlargement process,[100] and noted that on-going territorial disputes could be an issue for whether a country was invited. [19], During the mid-1980s the strength and cohesion of the Warsaw Pact, which had served as the main institution rivaling NATO, began to deteriorate. A Short History of NATO - U.S. Department of Defense Russia's belief in Nato 'betrayal' - and why it matters today In the mid-1950s, however, the U.S. and a number of other NATO members began to advocate making West Germany part of the alliance and allowing it to form an army under tight restrictions. Bosnia and Herzegovina is the only country with a Membership Action Plan, which together with Georgia, were named NATO "aspirant countries" at the North Atlantic Council meeting on 7 December 2011. Following the end of the Franco regime, newly-democratic Spain chose to join NATO in 1982. [296][297][298], Some individuals have proposed expanding NATO outside of Europe, although doing so would require amending Article 10 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which specifically limits new membership to "any other European State in a position to further the principles of this Treaty and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area. The process gained new urgency in June of that year, when the USSR cut off ground access to Berlin, forcing the U.S., Britain and France to airlift supplies to their sectors of the German city, which had been partitioned between the Western Allies and the Soviets following World War II. The Pact, essentially a political-military alliance, was viewed as a direct strategic counterweight to NATO, and its focus at the time was the fact that while East Germany was still part of the . [59][57] Russian troops had been stationed in Baltic states as late as 1995,[60] but the goals of European integration and NATO membership were very attractive for the Baltic states. Warsaw Pact | Summary, History, Countries, Map - Britannica [307] In 2020, Trump stated that Middle Eastern countries should be admitted to NATO. [53] In an open letter to US President Bill Clinton, more than forty foreign policy experts including Bill Bradley, Sam Nunn, Gary Hart, Paul Nitze, and Robert McNamara expressed their concerns about NATO expansion as both expensive and unnecessary given the lack of an external threat from Russia at that time. How NATO's expansion helped drive Putin to invade Ukraine [212], On 8 June 2017, Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada passed a law making integration with NATO a foreign policy priority,[213] and Poroshenko announced the next month that he would seek the opening of negotiations on a Membership Action Plan with NATO,[214] which recognized Ukraine as an aspirant country by March 2018. A serious issue confronting NATO in the early and mid-1950s was the negotiation of West Germany's participation in the alliance. [227], Austria was occupied by the four victorious Allied powers following World War II under the Allied Control Council, similar to Germany. [283] After the overthrow of President Slobodan Miloevi Serbia wanted to improve its relations with NATO, though membership in the military alliance remained highly controversial among political parties and society. ", The West's Response to Perestroika and Post-Soviet Russia, "Russia's belief in Nato 'betrayal' and why it matters today", "Mikhail Gorbachev: I am against all walls", "Memorandum of conversation between Baker, Shevardnadze and Gorbachev", "The Myth of a No-NATO-Enlargement Pledge to Russia", "Did NATO Promise Not to Enlarge? [254] An August 2022 poll found 52% in favor of joining and 48% opposed. The USSR oversaw the installation of pro-Soviet governments in many of the areas it had taken from the Nazis during the war. [84], Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, opinion polling for the first time showed a clear majority of Finns supported joining NATO. Between 1952 and 1965, the headquarters of the Allied Forces Mediterranean was based in the town of Floriana, just outside Malta's capital of Valletta. [199] He later reiterated during a trip to Moscow that Ukraine would remain a "European, non-aligned state". This alignment provided the framework for the military standoff that continued throughout the Cold War (1945-91). All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. [275] They also participate in NATO's peacekeeping force in Kosovo. [221] The defence ministry of Switzerland, which has a long-standing policy of neutrality, initiated a report in May 2022 analyzing various military options, including increased cooperation and joint military exercises with NATO. There have been several debates about whether . [183] Complications in the relationship between NATO and Georgia includes the presence of Russian military forces in internationally recognized Georgian territory as a result of multiple recent conflicts, like the 2008 Russo-Georgian War over the territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, both of which are home to a large number of citizens of the Russian Federation. This was . Countries wishing to join must meet certain requirements and complete a multi-step process involving political dialog and military integration. The Historical Dispute Behind Russia's Threat to Invade Ukraine [243] Ireland supplied a small number of troops to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan (20012014) and supports the ongoing NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR). [194] Then in April 2005, Ukraine entered into the Intensified Dialogue program with NATO. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. [57] Slovenia had held a referendum on NATO the previous year, with 66% approving of membership. [258] In December 2018, Kosovar Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj stated that Kosovo will apply for NATO membership after the formation of the Kosovo Armed Forces. The naming dispute was resolved with the Prespa Agreement in June 2018 under which the country adopted the name North Macedonia, which was supported by a referendum in September 2018. West Germany was reunified with East Germany on 3 October 1990. . [294] The minor Serbian Renewal Movement, which has two seats in the National Assembly, and the Liberal Democratic Party, which currently has none, remain the most vocal political parties in favor of NATO membership. The treaty's Article 10 describes how non-member states may join NATO: The Parties may, by unanimous agreement, invite any other European State in a position to further the principles of this Treaty and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area to accede to this Treaty. Since re-joining, Malta has been building its relations with NATO and getting involved in wider projects including the PfP Planning and Review Process and the NATO Science for Peace and Security Program. [226] In 2009, Russian envoy Dmitry Rogozin did not rule out joining NATO at some point, but stated that Russia was currently more interested in leading a coalition as a great power. States acceding to NATO replace Partnership for Peace membership with formal entry into the Alliance. On 22 April 2010, NATO agreed to launch the Membership Action Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina, but with certain conditions attached. With Ukraine under growing threat from Russia, the United States and its NATO allies are stepping up their response. The second round of NATO enlargement, by which the Federal Republic . Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), https://www.history.com/topics/cold-war/formation-of-nato-and-warsaw-pact. Any treaty concerning Cyprus' participation in NATO, either as a full member, PfP or Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, would likely be vetoed by Turkey, a full member of NATO, until the dispute is resolved. In February 1981, following a failed coup attempt, Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo became Prime Minister and campaigned strongly for NATO membership, in part to improve civilian control over the military, and Spain's NATO membership was approved in June 1982. Ireland continued their policy of military neutrality during the Cold War, and after it ended, joined NATO's Partnership for Peace (PfP) program and Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) in 1999. [148][149] In January 2023 and in view of the continued Turkish refusal to agree to Swedish NATO membership Jimmie Akesson of the Sweden Democrats reasoned that there were limits to how far Sweden would go to appease Turkey "because it is ultimately an anti-democratic system and a dictator we are dealing with". German reunification - Wikipedia [citation needed] This idea had gained support from a number of NATO leaders, particularly those in Central and Eastern Europe. [55], At the 1999 Washington summit NATO issued new guidelines for membership with individualized "Membership Action Plans" for Albania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia in order to standardize the process for new members. [158][159] When the eurosceptic nationalist Sweden Democrats adjusted their stance in December 2020 to allow for NATO membership if coordinated with neighboring Finland, a majority of the members of the Swedish Riksdag for the first time belonged to parties that were open to NATO membership,[160] and a motion to allow for future NATO membership passed the parliament that month by 204 votes to 145. [202] The bill forbade Ukraine's membership in any military bloc, but allowed for co-operation with alliances such as NATO. It was more directly inspired by the rearming of West Germany and its admission into NATO in 1955. [90] On 1 March 2023, the Parliament of Finland approved Finland's accession to NATO by a vote of 184 in favor and 7 opposed. Azerbaijan was a member of the CSTO but has committed to a policy of neutrality since 1999. [101] At the 1997 Madrid summit, the heads of state of NATO issued the "Madrid Declaration on Euro-Atlantic Security and Cooperation" which invited three Central European countries to join the alliance, out of the twelve that had at that point requested to join, laying out a path for others to follow. [64] Albania and Croatia were invited to join NATO at the 2008 Bucharest summit that April, though Slovenia threatened to hold up Croatian membership over their border dispute in the Bay of Piran. NATO would defend these countries if they were threatened or attacked. The treaty . Russia's Putin Says Western Leaders Broke Promises, But Did They? - VOA [203], Following months of Euromaidan street protests that began because of his refusal to sign an Association Agreement with the European Union in favor of deals from Russia, President Yanukovych fled Kyiv in February 2014, ultimately to Russia, and parliament voted to remove him from his post. [305] France's Foreign Ministry responded to this by reiterating the limitations of Article 10 on new membership, and suggested that Brazil could instead seek to become a Global Partner of NATO, like Colombia. [56] In May 2000, these countries joined with Croatia to form the Vilnius Group in order to cooperate and lobby for common NATO membership, and by the 2002 Prague summit seven were invited for membership, which took place at the 2004 Istanbul summit. NATO nations agreed that the country would receive an invitation upon resolution of the Macedonia naming dispute. [79] Most countries ratified the accession treaty in 2019, with Spain ratifying its accession protocol in March 2020. West German rearmament (German: Wiederbewaffnung) began in the decades after the World War II.Fears of another rise of German militarism caused the new military to operate within an alliance framework, under NATO command. It was believed that some NATO members, including the United Kingdom, were opposed to Maltese NATO membership. The European Union is an international economic and political alliance of 27 member countries, 19 of which use the euro as their official currency. 2) Act, 1974", "Two in three Maltese strongly support neutrality survey", "75% of Maltese want greater EU military cooperation after Ukraine invasion", "Moldova and NATO: Expansion Stops at the Dniester River? Ratification of their membership was completed in May 1955. [271] Polling done by the island-nation's Ministry of Foreign Affairs found in February 2022 that 63% of those surveyed supported the island's neutrality, and only 6% opposed the policy, with 14% undecided. Unhappy with its role in the organization, France opted to withdraw from military participation in NATO in 1966 and did not return until 1995. The Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia in Cyprus remained under British control as a British Overseas Territory following independence. "NATO Enlargement and the Problem of Value Complexity. West German rearmament - Wikipedia [169], The ruling Swedish Social Democratic Party, however, had remained in favor of neutrality and non-alignment for many years,[170] but following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the party debated the issue internally in April 2022,[171] and announced on 15 May 2022 that they would now support an application to join the organization. Mintoff supported neutrality as his foreign policy,[269] and the position was later enshrined into the country's constitution in 1974 as an amendment to Article 1. [308] Because of its close ties to Europe, Cape Verde has been suggested as a future member and the government of Cape Verde suggested an interest in joining as recently as 2019. Germany became a NATO member on 6 May 1955. The accession process is overseen by the North Atlantic Council, NATO's governing body. These leaders however guaranteed their opposition that membership in any military alliance would not pass without public approval in a referendum. Finland became a member of the alliance on 4 April 2023, the 74th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty being signed. [92], According to the Russian defence minister Sergei Shoigu, Finland's accession to NATO had significantly increased the risk of a wider conflict in Europe. [187], In September 2019, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that "NATO approaching our borders is a threat to Russia. Why Germany Is Undermining NATO Unity on Russia [45] While Russian President Boris Yeltsin did sign an agreement with NATO in May 1997 that included text referring to new membership, he clearly described NATO expansion as "unacceptable" and a threat to Russian security in his December 1997 National Security Blueprint. [145][146] NATO leadership and the United States have said they were confident Turkey would not hold up the two countries' accession process. Russia has 'threatened counter measure' by increasing the announced placement of nuclear weapons in Belarus. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), military alliance established by the North Atlantic Treaty (also called the Washington Treaty) of April 4, 1949, which sought to create a counterweight to Soviet armies stationed in central and eastern Europe after World War II. NATO - Topic: Enlargement and Article 10 Greece and Turkey were admitted in 1952, the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany) in 1955 and Spain in 1982. Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader ultimately agreed in January 2008, as part of forming a coalition government with the HSS and HSLS parties, not to officially propose one. (Albania withdrew in 1968, and East Germany did so in 1990.) North Atlantic Treaty Organization - The role of Germany [15] Franco however did sign regular defense agreements with individual members, including the 1953 Pact of Madrid with the United States, which allowed their use of air and naval bases in Spain. [91] Most countries approved Finland's application throughout 2022, but Hungary and Turkey held out over disputes until early 2023, with the Hungarian parliament approving the application on 27 March, and the Turkish parliament approved the application on 31 March 2023. [12] In 1974, Greece suspended its NATO membership over the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, but rejoined in 1980 with Turkey's cooperation. [54] Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic officially joined NATO in March 1999. LVIII of 1974 Constitution of Malta (Amendment) (No. [154][155] Sweden has been an active participant in NATO-led missions in Bosnia (IFOR and SFOR), Kosovo (KFOR), Afghanistan (ISAF), and Libya (Operation Unified Protector). In response, the U.S. and its Western allies sought ways to prevent further expansion of Communist influence on the European continent. These states protested strongly against the re-militarization of West Germany. [157] The center-right Moderate Party and center-left Liberal Party have both generally supported NATO membership since the end of the Cold War, with the Moderates even making it their top election pledge in 2022. President Putin told Rossiya state television on 22 December, 2022; "We are ready to negotiate with everyone involved about acceptable solutions, but Kyiv and its Western backers have refused to . West Germany formally joined NATO on May 5, 1955, and the Warsaw Pact was signed less than two weeks later, on May 14. [186] Anders Fogh Rasmussen confirmed that this could include the building of military capabilities and armed forces training. Fact-checking claims that NATO, US broke agreement against alliance The NATO intervention in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992 against Bosnia-Serbian forces and the NATO bombing of targets in Serbia (then part of FR Yugoslavia) during the Kosovo War in 1999 resulted in strained relations between Serbia and NATO. [11] That month the Soviet Union established its own collective defense alliance, commonly called the Warsaw Pact, in part as a response to West German membership in NATO. [22][23] There is no mention of NATO expansion into any other country in the SeptemberOctober 1990 agreements on German reunification. "[25] Yeltsin was succeeded in 2000 by Vladimir Putin, who further promoted the idea that guarantees about enlargement were made in 1990, including during a 2007 speech in Munich. [299] In 2007, then-US presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani suggested including Singapore and Israel, among others. Prime Minister Adolfo Surez, first elected in 1976, proceeded carefully on relations with NATO due to divisions in his coalition over the US-use of bases. [179] Turkey later agreed, on 28 June 2022, to support Sweden's membership bid. In 1990, the negotiators reached an agreement that a reunified Germany would be in NATO under West Germany's existing membership. ", Spohr, Kristina. "[189], On 29 September 2020, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on Georgia to use every opportunity to move closer to the Alliance and speed up preparations for membership. [247][248] The republican party Sinn Fin proposed a constitutional amendment to prohibit the country from joining a military alliance like NATO, but the legislation failed to pass the Dil ireann in April 2019. [289] In April 2011 Serbia's request for an IPAP was approved by NATO,[290] and Serbia submitted a draft IPAP in May 2013. Moscow Ready For Peace Talks: With No Preconditions? - OpEd All Rights Reserved. In . [36][37][26] Gorbachev later stated that NATO expansion was "not discussed at all" in 1990, but, like Yeltsin, described the expansion of NATO past East Germany as "a violation of the spirit of the statements and assurances made to us in 1990. East Germany - Wikipedia [151], In 1949, Sweden chose not to join NATO and declared a security policy aiming for non-alignment in peace and neutrality in war. "[33][34] During one of James Baker's 1990 talks with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Baker did suggest that the German reunification negotiations could have resulted in an agreement where "there would be no extension of NATO's jurisdiction for forces of NATO one inch to the east,"[35] and historians like Mark Kramer have interpreted it as applying, at least in the Soviets' understanding, to all of Eastern Europe. [276] Following the 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia, NATO officials warned that Russia might seek to annex Transnistria, a breakaway Moldovan region. In 1990, Germany was finally reunified; the new German state remained a member of NATO. NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) is an international military alliance that consists of 31 member states from Europe and North America.It was established at the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949. [112] Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia similarly received offers at the April 2008 Bucharest summit. NATO - Declassified: German reunification, 01-Jan.-1990 [69] Montenegro also began full membership with the Adriatic Charter of NATO aspirants in May 2009. The new democracies of Central and Eastern Europe were eager to guarantee their freedom by becoming integrated into Euro-Atlantic institutions. [106], In November 2002, NATO invited seven countries to join it via the MAP: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. When Malta gained independence in 1964, prime minister George Borg Olivier wanted the country to join NATO. [222] Cyprus is also a member state of the European Union, but it is the only one that is neither a full member state nor participates in the Partnership for Peace. [49] Hungary's interest in joining was confirmed by a November 1997 referendum that returned 85.3% in favor of membership. [27][28] NATOUkraine Action Plan adopted on 22 November 2002. Debate within the American government as to whether enlargement of NATO was feasible or desirable began during the George H.W. North Atlantic Treaty Organization | Britannica