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{{Infobox Organization|name=North Atlantic Treaty OrganizationOrganisation du traité de l'Atlantique Nord|image = Flag of NATO.svg|caption = Flag of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation|map = Map of NATO countries.png|mcaption = NATO countries shown in blue|type = Military alliance, [Belgium, [French language"English and French shall be the official languages for the entire North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.", Final Communiqué following the meeting of the North Atlantic Council on September 17, 1949. "(..)the English and French texts the Treaty are equally authentic(...)" The North Atlantic Treaty, Article 14|leader_title = Secretary General of NATO|leader_name = Jaap de Hoop Scheffer [1949

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); ; (also called the North Atlantic Alliance, the Atlantic Alliance, or the Western Alliance) is a military alliance, established by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949. With headquarters in Brussels, Belgium,Boulevard Leopold III-laan, B-1110 BRUSSELS, which is in Haren, part of the City of Brussels. the organization established a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party. Beginnings The Treaty of Brussels, signed on 17 March 1948 by Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, and the United Kingdom, is considered the precursor to the NATO agreement. This treaty established a military alliance, later to become the Western European Union. However, United States participation was thought necessary in order to counter the military power of the Soviet Union, and therefore talks for a new military alliance began almost immediately.

These talks resulted in the North Atlantic Treaty, which was signed in Washington, D.C. on 4 April 1949. It included the five Treaty of Brussels states, as well as the United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. Three years later, on 18 February 1952, Greece and Turkey also joined.

"Such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force" does not necessarily mean that other member states will respond with military action against the aggressor(s). Rather they are obliged to respond, but maintain the freedom to choose how they will respond. This differs from Article IV of the Treaty of Brussels (which founded the Western European Union) which clearly states that the response must include military action. It is however often assumed that NATO members will aid the attacked member militarily. Further, the article limits the organisation's scope to Europe and North America, which explains why the Falkland war did not result in NATO involvement.

In 1954, the Soviet Union suggested that it should join NATO to preserve peace in Europe. The NATO countries ultimately rejected this proposal.

The incorporation of West Germany into the organisation on 9 May 1955 was described as "a decisive turning point in the history of our continent" by Halvard Lange, Foreign Minister of Norway at the time.BBC On This Day " West Germany accepted into Nato" bbc.co.uk Indeed, one of its immediate results was the creation of the Warsaw Pact, signed on 14 May 1955 by the Soviet Union and its satellite states, as a formal response to this event, thereby delineating the two opposing sides of the Cold War.

Early Cold War The unity of NATO was breached early on in its history, with a crisis occurring during Charles de Gaulle's presidency of France from 1958 onward. De Gaulle protested the United States' hegemonic role in the organisation and what he perceived as a special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom. In a memorandum sent to President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Prime Minister Harold Macmillan on 17 September 1958, he argued for the creation of a tripartite directorate that would put France on an equal footing with the United States and the United Kingdom, and also for the expansion of NATO's coverage to include geographical areas of interest to France, most notably Algeria, where France was waging a counter-insurgency and sought NATO assistance.

Considering the response given to be unsatisfactory, de Gaulle began to build an independent defence for his country. On 11 March 1959, France withdrew its Mediterranean Sea Naval fleet from NATO command; three months later, in June 1959, de Gaulle banned the stationing of foreign nuclear weapons on French soil. This caused the United States to transfer two hundred military aircraft out of France and return control of the United States Air Force in France it had operated in France since 1950 to the French by 1967. The last of these was the Toul-Rosières Air Base, home of the 26th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, which was relocated to Ramstein Air Base in West Germany.

In the meantime, France had initiated an Nuclear weapons and France Mutually assured destruction programme, spearheaded by the "Force de frappe" ("Striking force"). France tested its first nuclear weapon, Gerboise Bleue, on 13 February 1960.

Though France showed solidarity with the rest of NATO during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, de Gaulle continued his pursuit of an independent defence by removing France's Atlantic Ocean and English Channel fleets from NATO command. In 1966, all French armed forces were removed from NATO's integrated military command, and all non-French NATO troops were asked to leave France. This withdrawal precipitated the relocation of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) from Paris to Casteau, north of Mons, Belgium, by 16 October 1967. France remained a member of the alliance throughout this period and subsequently rejoined NATO's Military Committee in 1995, and intensified working relations with the military structure. However, France has not yet rejoined the integrated military command and no non-French NATO troops are allowed to be based on its land.

The creation of NATO necessitated the standardisation of military technology and unified strategy, through Command, Control and Communications centres (aka C4ISTAR). The STANAG (Standardisation Agreement) insured such coherence. Hence, the 7.62×51 NATO rifle cartridge was introduced in the 1950s as a standard firearm cartridge among many NATO countries. Fabrique Nationale's FN FAL became the most popular 7.62 NATO rifle in Europe and served into the early 1990s. Also, aircraft marshalling signals were standardised, so that any NATO aircraft could land at any NATO base.

Détente During most of the duration of the Cold War, NATO maintained a holding pattern with no actual military engagement as an organisation. On 1 July 1968, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty opened for signature: NATO argued that its nuclear weapons sharing arrangements did not breach the treaty as U.S. forces controlled the weapons until a decision was made to go to war, at which point the treaty would no longer be controlling. Few states knew of the NATO nuclear sharing arrangements at that time, and they were not challenged.

On 30 May 1978, NATO countries officially defined two complementary aims of the Alliance, to maintain security and pursue détente. This was supposed to mean matching defences at the level rendered necessary by the Warsaw Pact's offensive capabilities without spurring a further arms race.

However, on 12 December 1979, in light of a build-up of Warsaw Pact nuclear capabilities in Europe, ministers approved the deployment of U.S. Cruise missile and Pershing II theatre nuclear weapons in Europe. The new warheads were also meant to strengthen the western negotiating position in regard to nuclear disarmament. This policy was called the Dual-Track Decision policy. Similarly, in 1983–84, responding to the stationing of Warsaw Pact SS-20 medium-range missiles in Europe, NATO deployed modern Pershing II missiles able to reach Moscow within minutes. This action led to peace movement protests throughout Western Europe.

The membership of the organisation in this time period likewise remained largely static. In 1974, as a consequence of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Greece withdrew its forces from NATO's military command structure, but, with Turkish cooperation, were readmitted in 1980. On 30 May 1982, NATO gained a new member when, following a referendum, the newly democratic Spain joined the alliance.

In November 1983, NATO manoeuvres simulating a nuclear launch caused panic in the Kremlin. The Soviet leadership, led by ailing General Secretary Yuri Andropov, became concerned that the manoeuvres, codenamed Able Archer 83, were the beginnings of a genuine first strike. In response, Soviet nuclear forces were readied and air units in Eastern Germany and Poland were placed on alert. Though at the time written off by U.S. intelligence as a propaganda effort, many historians now believe that the Soviet fear of a NATO first strike was genuine.

Cold War stay-behind armies NATO was founded early in the Cold War with the express aim of defending western Europe against a military invasion by the Soviet Union. On 24 October 1990, Italian Prime minister Giulio Andreotti, a member of the Italian Christian Democracy (Italy) party, publicly revealed the existence of Gladio, known as "stay-behind armies", clandestine paramilitary militia whose role would be to wage guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines in the case of a successful Warsaw Pact invasion. Andreotti told the Italian Parliament that NATO had long held a covert policy of training Partisan (military)s in the event of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe.

Spurred by the difficulties in setting up partisan organisation in occupied Europe during the World War II, the CIA, British MI6 and NATO trained and armed partisan groups in NATO states to fight a guerilla warfare if they were conquered in the event of a Warsaw Pact invasion. Operating in all of NATO and even in neutral countries (Austria, Finland - see also Operation Stella Polaris -, Sweden Concerning Finland, Sweden, and NATO members Norway and Denmark, see William Colby (director of Central Intelligence from 1973 to 1976) and Peter Forbath, Honourable Men: My Life in the CIA, London: Hutchinson & Co., 1978 or Switzerland, one of the three states who had a parliamentary inquiry in the matter) or in Spain before its 1982 adhesion to NATO, Gladio was first coordinated by the Clandestine Committee of the Western Union (CCWU), founded in 1948.NATO's Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe, by Daniele Ganser, Franck Cass, London, 2005 ISBN 0-7146-5607-0. See also NATO’s secret armies linked to terrorism?, by Daniele Ganser, December 17, 2004 — URL accessed on January 18, 2007 After the 1949 creation of NATO, the CCWU was integrated into the Clandestine Planning Committee (CPC), founded in 1951 and overseen by the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe), transferred to Belgium after France’s official retreat from NATO in 1966 — which was not followed by the dissolution of the French stay-behind paramilitary movements. According to historian Daniele Ganser, one of the major researcher on the field, "Next to the CPC, a second secret army command centre, labeled Allied Clandestine Committee (ACC), was set up in 1957 on the orders of NATO's Supreme Allied Commander (SACEUR). This military structure provided for significant U.S. leverage over the secret stay-behind networks in Western Europe as the SACEUR, throughout NATO's history, has traditionally been a U.S. General who reports to the Pentagon in Washington and is based in NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium. The ACC's duties included elaborating on the directives of the network, developing its clandestine capability, and organising bases in Britain and the United States. In wartime, it was to plan stay-behind operations in conjunction with SHAPE. According to former CIA director William Colby, it was 'a major programme'." ETH Zurich research project on Gladio directed by Dr. Daniele Ganser

The existence of Gladio, one of the best kept secrets of the Cold War, is now widely recognised. Belgium, Italy and Switzerland have held parliamentary inquiries in the matter. What remains controversial is the ties between Gladio members, of whom many belonged to neo-fascist movements, and false flag terrorist attacks. A NATO spokesman denied on 5 November 1990 any knowledge or involvement with GladioThe European, Nov 9th 1990, quoted by Ganser, p25 and has since refused to comment. The U.S. State Department has itself admitted the existence of Gladio, but denied it has been involved in terrorism, in particular in Italy and in Greece.

In Italy in particular, Gladio paramilitary groups have been accused by the justice of having carried out dozens of terrorist bombings, which were officially blamed on leftist groups such as the Red Brigades. It has been alleged that these groups and the individuals in them were responsible for the strategy of tension in Italy which aimed at impeding the "historic compromise" between the Christian Democracy and the Italian Communist Party (PCI) (including the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombing and the Bologna massacre) political Belgian stay-behind network, Hans Depraetere and Jenny Dierickx, "La Guerre froide en Belgique" ("Cold War in Belgium") (EPO-Dossier, Anvers, 1986) military coups in Greek military junta of 1967-1974 and Military coup in Turkey, 1980 Selahattin Celik, Türkische Konterguerilla. Die Todesmaschinerie (Köln: Mesopotamien Verlag, 1999; see also Olüm Makinasi Türk Kontrgerillasi, 1995), quoting Cuneyit Arcayurek, Coups and the Secret Services, p.190 and an attempted coup in Algiers putsch.Pierre Abramovici and Gabriel Périès, La Grande Manipulation, éd. Hachette, 2006 The supposed aim of this group was to prevent Communist movements in Western Europe from gaining power. Some researchers have said that the true aim was to increase the power and control of the United States over Europe.

In 2000, a report from the Democratic Party of the Left, "Gruppo Democratici di Sinistra l'Ulivo", concluded that the strategy of tension had been supported by the United States to "stop the Italian Communist Party (Communist Party), and to a certain degree also the Italian Socialist Party (Socialist Party), from reaching executive power in the country". A report, stated that "Those massacres, those bombs, those military actions had been organised or promoted or supported by men inside Italian state institutions and, as has been discovered more recently, by men linked to the structures of CIA."

Post-Cold War The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact in 1991 removed the de facto main adversary of NATO. This caused a strategic re-evaluation of NATO's purpose, nature and tasks. In practice this ended up entailing a gradual (and still ongoing) expansion of NATO to Eastern Europe, as well as the extension of its activities to areas that had not formerly been NATO concerns.The first post-Cold War expansion of NATO came with the reunification of Germany on 3 October 1990, when the former East Germany became part of the Federal Republic of Germany and the alliance. This had been agreed in the Two Plus Four Treaty earlier in the year. To secure Soviet approval of a united Germany remaining in NATO, it was agreed that foreign troops and nuclear weapons would not be stationed in the east, and also that NATO would never expand further east.Gorbachev's Lost Legacy by Stephen F. Cohen (link) The Nation, February 24, 2005

On 28 February 1994, NATO also took its first military action, shooting down four Bosnian Serb aircraft violating a U.N.-mandated no-fly zone over central Bosnia and Herzegovina. Operation Deny Flight, the no-fly-zone enforcement mission, had began a year before, on 12 April 1993, and was to continue until 20 December 1995. NATO air strikes that year helped bring the Yugoslav wars to an end, resulting in the Dayton Agreement.

Between 1994 and 1997, wider forums for regional cooperation between NATO and its neighbours were set up, like the Partnership for Peace, the Mediterranean Dialogue initiative and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council. On 8 July 1997, three former communist countries, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Poland, were invited to join NATO, which finally happened in 1999.

On 24 March 1999, NATO saw its first broad-scale military engagement in the Kosovo War, where it waged an Operation Allied Force against what was then the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. A formal declaration of war never took place. Yugoslavia referred to the Kosovo War as military aggression, as being undeclared and contravening the UN Charter.In regards to the definition of aggression reached by consensus and approved by the United Nations General Assembly on 14 December 1974 as Resolution 3314 (XXIX): "Aggression is the use of armed force by a State against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of another State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Charter of the UN." The conflict ended on 11 June 1999, when Yugoslavian leader Slobodan Milošević agreed to NATO’s demands by accepting United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244. NATO then helped establish the Kosovo Force, a NATO-led force under a United Nations mandate that operated the military mission in Kosovo.

Debate concerning NATO's role and the concerns of the wider international community continued throughout its expanded military activities: The United States opposed efforts to require the U.N. Security Council to approve NATO military strikes, such as the ongoing action against Yugoslavia, while France and other NATO countries claimed the alliance needed U.N. approval. American officials said that this would undermine the authority of the alliance, and they noted that Russia and China would have exercised their Security Council vetoes to block the strike on Yugoslavia. In April 1999, at the Washington summit, a German proposal that NATO adopt a no-first-use nuclear strategy was rejected.

After the September 11 attacks The expansion of the activities and geographical reach of NATO grew even further as an outcome of the September 11, 2001 attacks. These caused as a response the provisional invocation (on September 12) of the collective security of NATO's charter—Article 5 which states that any attack on a member state will be considered an attack against the entire group of members. The invocation was confirmed on 4 October 2001 when NATO determined that the attacks were indeed eligible under the terms of the North Atlantic Treaty.http://www.nato.int/docu/update/2001/1001/e1002a.htm The eight official actions taken by NATO in response to the attacks included the first two examples of military action taken in response to an invocation of Article 5: Operation Eagle Assist and Operation Active Endeavour.

Despite this early show of solidarity, NATO faced a crisis little more than a year later, when on 10 February 2003, France and Belgium vetoed the procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq. Germany did not use its right to break the procedure but said it supported the veto.

On the issue of Afghanistan on the other hand, the alliance showed greater unity: On 16 April 2003 NATO agreed to take command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. The decision came at the request of Germany and the Netherlands, the two nations leading ISAF at the time of the agreement, and all 19 NATO ambassadors approved it unanimously. The handover of control to NATO took place on 11 August, and marked the first time in NATO’s history that it took charge of a mission outside the north Atlantic area. Canada had originally been slated to take over ISAF by itself on that date.

In January 2004, NATO appointed Minister Hikmet Çetin, of Turkey, as the Senior Civilian Representative (SCR) in Afghanistan. Minister Cetin is primarily responsible for advancing the political-military aspects of the Alliance in Afghanistan.

On 31 July 2006, a NATO-led force, made up mostly of troops from Canada, Great Britain, Turkey and the Netherlands, took over Coalition combat operations in Afghanistan in 2006 from a U.S.-led anti-terrorism coalition.

Expansion and restructuring 2004.New NATO structures were also formed while old ones were abolished: The NATO Response Force (NRF) was launched at the 2002 Prague Summit of NATO on 21 November. On 19 June 2003, a major restructuring of the NATO military commands began as the Headquarters of the Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic were abolished and a new command, Allied Command Transformation (ACT), was established in Norfolk, Virginia, USA, and the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) became the Headquarters of Allied Command Operations (ACO). ACT is responsible for driving transformation (future capabilities) in NATO, whilst ACO is responsible for current operations.

Membership went on expanding with the accession of seven more Northern European and Eastern European countries to NATO: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (see Baltic Air Policing) and also Slovenia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania. They were first invited to start talks of membership during the 2002 Prague Summit, and joined NATO on 29 March 2004, shortly before the 2004 Istanbul Summit.

A number of other countries have also expressed a wish to join the alliance, including Albania, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Georgia (country), Montenegro and Ukraine.

From the Russian point of view, NATO's eastward expansion since the end of the Cold War has been in clear breach of an agreement between Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President George H. W. Bush which allowed for a peaceful German reunification. NATO's expansion policy is seen as a continuation of a Cold War attempt to surround and isolate Russia.NATO Seeking to Weaken CIS by Expansion — Russian General (link) MosNews 01.12.2005Ukraine moves closer to NATO membership By Taras Kuzio (Link) Jamestown FoundationGlobal Realignment Condoleezza Rice wants Russia to acknowledge USA's interests on post-Soviet space (Link) Pravda 04.05.2006

The 2006 NATO summit was held in Riga, Latvia, which had joined the Atlantic Alliance two years earlier. It is the first NATO summit to be held in a country that was part of the Soviet Union, and the second one in a former COMECON country (after the 2002 Prague Summit). Energy Security was one of the main themes of the Riga Summit.

ISAF In August 2003, NATO commenced its first mission ever outside Europe when it assumed control over International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. However, some critics feel that national caveats or other restrictions undermine the efficiency of ISAF. For instance, political scientist Joseph Nye stated in a 2006 article that "many NATO countries with troops in Afghanistan have "national caveats" that restrict how their troops may be used. While the Riga summit relaxed some of these caveats to allow assistance to allies in dire circumstances, Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, and the U.S. are doing most of the fighting in southern Afghanistan, while French, German, and Italian troops are deployed in the quieter north. At the hands of the escalation of the fighting, France has recently accepted to redeploy its bombers in the south to help the other countrieshttp://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3232,36-949296@51-947771,0.html. It is difficult to see how NATO can succeed in stabilising Afghanistan unless it is willing to commit more troops and give commanders more flexibility." J. NYE, "NATO after Riga", 14 December 2006, http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/nye40 If these caveats were to be eliminated, it is argued that this could help NATO to succeed.

NATO missile defence talks controversy For some years, the United States negotiated with Poland and the Czech Republic for the deployment of interceptor missiles and a radar tracking system in the two countries. Both countries' governments indicated that they would allow the deployment. The proposed American missile defence site in Central Europe is believed to be fully operational in 2015 and would be capable of covering most of Europe except part of Romania plus Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey.http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-04/19/content_6001014.htm

In April 2007, NATO's European allies called for a NATO missile defence system which would complement the American National Missile Defense system to protect Europe from missile attacks and NATO's decision-making North Atlantic Council held consultations on missile defence in the first meeting on the topic at such a senior level.

In response, Russian president Vladimir Putin claimed that such a deployment could lead to a new arms race and could enhance the likelihood of mutual destruction. He also suggested that his country should freeze its compliance with the 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) - which limits military deployments across the continent - until all NATO countries had ratified the adapted CFE treaty.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6594379.stm

Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the system would not affect strategic balance or threaten Russia, as the plan is to base only 10 interceptor missiles in Poland with an associated radar in the Czech Republic.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6570533.stm

On July 14, Russia notified its intention to suspend the CFE treaty, effective 150 days later.

Membership There are currently 26 members within NATO.

{| class="wikitable"!width=12% | Date!width=14% | Country!width=8% | Expansion!width=55% | Notes|-| rowspan=12| April 4 1949 and has recently provided troops trained in Norway for NATO peacekeeping.|-| |||-| |||-| |||-| |||-| |||-| |||-| |||-| rowspan=2| [18 February 1952 ] following the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus.] 1955 ]; Saarland reunited with it in 1957 and the territory of the former German Democratic Republic reunited with it on 3 October 1990)] 1982 ] 1999 ] 2004 || || rowspan=7 align=center| Fifth |||-| |||-| |||-| |||-| |||-| |||-| |||-|}

Future membership Article X of the North Atlantic Treaty makes it possible that non-member states join NATO: North Atlantic Treaty, Washington D.C. - 4 April 1949, , retrieved on February 22 2007.

Note that this article poses two general limits to non-member states: (1) only European states are eligible for membership and (2) these states need the approval of all the existing member states. The second criterion means that every member state can put some criteria forward that have to be attained. In practice, NATO formulates in most cases a common set of criteria, but for instance in the case of Cyprus, Turkey blocks Cyprus' wish to be able to apply for membership as long as the Cyprus dispute is not resolved.

Membership Action Plan As a procedure for nations wishing to join NATO, a mechanism called Membership Action Plan (MAP) was approved in the Washington Summit of 1999. A country's participation in MAP entails the annual presentation of reports concerning its progress on five different measures:

NATO provides feedback as well as technical advice to each country and evaluates its progress on an individual basis.http://www.nato.int/issues/map/index.html

NATO is also unlikely to invite countries such as the Republic of Ireland, Sweden, Finland, Austria and Switzerland, where popular opinions do not support NATO membership. NATO officially recognises the policy of neutrality practised in these countries, and does not consider the failure to set a goal for NATO membership as a sign of distrust.

{]! Individual Partnership Action Plan! NATO membership declared as goal! Intensified Dialogue! Membership Action Plan! NATO membership] || - || - || - || - || -|-| || Former signatory, 1995–1996 || - || || - || - || -|}

Debate about membership Croatia The Croatian government considers NATO membership a top priority, and a 2003 opinion poll showed that about 60% of the Croatian citizens were in favor of NATO membership. "Poll: Croatians against NATO membership" in The Malaysian Sun, May 4 2006 Support for membership declined after 2003, was only 29% in 2006, but resurged during 2007. N. RADIC, "Croatia mulls new strategy for NATO" in The Southeast European Times, 4 December 2006, L. VESELICA, U.S. Backs Albania, Croatia, Macedonia NATO Bid, June 5 2006 It is not yet known how Croatia will make the final decision about membership: through an act of parliament or via a binding referendum, but on 23 March 2007, Croatian president Stjepan Mesić, prime minister Ivo Sanader and president of parliament Vladimir Šeks declared that there is no need for a referendum, because they are convinced that the Croatian population supports entry to NATO.http://www.seeurope.net/?q=node/6610 Earlier, in 2006, the Croatian government was planning a public campaign to promote the benefits of membership. A May 2007 poll conducted by the government shows growing support for NATO membership as 52% of the population (up 9% from March) supports membership and only 25% are against.

Recently, it was made public that a Slovenian military air base in Cerklje ob Krki, near the Croatian border would be transformed in a NATO base. In 2010 the base would become operational and it is expected that the military planes of this base will have to use Croatian air space . Local inhabitants and environmentalists from both sides of the border are expressing their concerns about this base.

Finland Finland is participating in nearly all sub-areas of the Partnership for Peace programme, and has provided peacekeeping forces to the Afghanistan and Kosovo missions. Polls in Finland indicate that the public is strongly against NATO membership "Clear majority of Finns still opposed to NATO membership", Helsingin Sanomat. and the possibility of Finland's membership in NATO was one of the most major issues debated in relation to the Finnish presidential election, 2006.

The main contester of the President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö of the National Coalition Party (Finland), supported Finland joining a "more European" NATO. Fellow right-winger Henrik Lax of the Swedish People's Party (Finland) likewise supported the concept. On the other side, president Tarja Halonen of the Social Democratic Party of Finland opposed changing the status quo, as did most other candidates in the election. Her victory and re-election to the post of president has currently put the issue of a NATO membership for Finland on hold for at least the duration of her term. Finland could however change its official position on NATO membership after the new E.U. treaty clarifies if there will be any new E.U.–level defence deal, but in the meantime Helsinki's Finnish Defence Forces is pushing to join NATO and its Finnish Army is making technical preparations for membershiphttp://euobserver.com/9/23948, stating that it would increase Finland's security. "Häkämies: Nato-jäsenyys Suomen etu", MTV3 Internet. Retrieved on 4-26-2007.

Other political figures of Finland who have weighed in with opinions include former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari who has argued that Finland should join all the organisations supported by other Western democracies in order "to shrug off once and for all the burden of Finlandisation". "Former President Ahtisaari: NATO membership would put an end to Finlandisation murmurs", Helsingin Sanomat. An ex-president, Mauno Koivisto, opposes the idea, arguing that NATO membership would ruin Finland's relations with Russia. "Finland, NATO, and Russia", Helsingin Sanomat.

Serbia During the 2006 Riga Summit Serbia joined the Partnership for Peace programme. While this programme is often the first step towards full NATO membership, it is uncertain whether Serbia perceives it an intent to join the allianceDragan Jočić, Minister of interior affairs of Serbia: Military independence is not isolation (in Serbian) (NATO fought Bosnian Serb forces during the Bosnia war and Serbia during the 1999 Kosovo conflict). An overwhelming Serbian majority opposes NATO membership. Recently the DS party of Serbia which is seen as overwhelmingly pro-EU has given hints that it is also wished to integrate the country into NATO. Although they remain silent on the issue most of the time (so as not to lose popularity) it is facing a problem from its coalition partners DSS and NS which are diametrically opposed to NATO membership. Recently these parties have begun verbal attacks on NATO for its presence in the Serbian province of Kosovo accusing them of establishing a NATO state, governed from Camp Bondsteelhttp://www.b92.net/eng/news/in_focus.php?id=96&start=0&nav_id=43417. As of now Serbia does not intend to join NATO and the idea has been shelved as a low priority in the Serbian governments plans.

Unofficially a poll has not been taken to see just how many people in Serbia are in support for NATO, some believe this to be deliberate, choosing to "not know" how many people would voice their "support". The DS party is taking an incredible risk to its popularity in the case of supporting NATO membership. Its confrontation with DSS will directly affect the two party's popularity. The Serbian Ministry of Defense and the Serbian President are both from the DS party while the Prime Minister is of the DSS.

Sweden In 1949 Sweden elected not to join NATO and declared a security policy aiming for: non-alignment in peace, neutrality in war. A modified version now states: non-alignment in peace for possible neutrality in war. This position was maintained without much discussion during the Cold War. Since the 1990s however there has been an active debate in Sweden on the question of NATO membership in the post-Cold War world. While the governing parties in Sweden have opposed membership, they have participated in NATO-led missions in Bosnia (IFOR and SFOR), Kosovo (Kosovo Force) and Afghanistan (International Security Assistance Force).

The Swedish Centre Party (Sweden) and Swedish Social Democratic Party have remained in favour of non-alignment. This view is shared by Green and Left parties in Sweden. The Moderate Party and the Liberal People's Party (Sweden) lean toward NATO membership.

These ideological cleavages were visible again in November 2006 when Sweden could either buy two new transport planes or join NATO's plane pool, "Sweden 'should join Nato plane pool'" in The Local, November 11, 2006, and in December 2006, when Sweden was invited to join the NATO Response Force. "Sweden could join new Nato force" in The Local, December 2, 2006,

A 2005 poll indicated that more Swedes were opposed to NATO membership than there were supporters (46% against, 22% for). AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, "Swedes Still Opposed to NATO Membership: Poll" in DefenseNews, May 15, 2006,

Ukraine Ukraine Defence Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko declared that Ukraine would have an Action Plan on NATO membership by the end of March 2006, to begin implementation by September 2006. A final decision concerning Ukraine's membership in NATO is expected to be made in 2008, with full membership possible by 2010.http://en.for-ua.com/news/2006/03/20/114232.html

The idea of Ukrainian membership in NATO has gained support from a number of NATO leaders, including President Traian Băsescu of Romania "Bulgaria’s capital to host NATO talks" and president Ivan Gašparovič of Slovakia.http://www.slovakspectator.sk/clanok.asp?cl=22855 The Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, Alexander Grushko, announced however that NATO membership for Ukraine was not in Russia's best interests and wouldn't help the relations of the two countries.http://www.interfax.kiev.ua/eng/go.cgi?31,20060424001

Currently a majority of Ukrainian citizens oppose NATO membership, independently of their respective political views and beliefs. Protests have taken place by opposition blocs against the idea, and petitions signed urging the end of relations with NATO. Former Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov has indicated Ukraine will not enter NATO as long as the public continues opposing the move.http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=4735634&PageNum=0Plans for membership were shelved on 14 September 2006 due to the overwhelming disapproval of NATO membership.http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/09/14/ukraine.nato.reut/index.html?section=cnn_world Currently the Ukrainian Government started an information campaign, aimed at informing the Ukrainian people about the consequences of membership. The likelihood of a referendum regarding membership is growing.

Cooperation with non-member states ]

Euro-Atlantic Partnership A double framework has been established to help further co-operation between the 26 NATO members and 23 "partner countries".



The 23 partner countries are the following:

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Individual Partnership Action Plans Launched at the November 2002 Prague Summit, Individual Partnership Action Plans (IPAPs) are open to countries that have the political will and ability to deepen their relationship with NATO.http://www.nato.int/issues/ipap/index.html

Currently IPAPs are in implementation with the following countries:



Intensified Dialogue Intensified Dialogue with NATO is viewed as a stage before being invited to enter the alliance Membership Action Plan (MAP), while the latter should eventually lead to NATO membership.

Countries currently engaged in an Intensified Dialogue with NATO:



Mediterranean Dialogue The Mediterranean Dialogue, first launched in 1994 is a forum of cooperation between NATO and seven countries of the Mediterranean:http://www.nato.int/med-dial/home.htm On 16 October 2006, NATO and Israel finalised the first ever Individual Cooperation Programme (ICP) under the enhanced Mediterranean Dialogue, where Israel will be contributing to the NATO maritime Operation Active Endeavour.http://www.nato.int/docu/pr/2006/p06-123e.htm The ICP covers many areas of common interest, such as the fight against terrorism and joint military exercises in the Mediterranean Sea.

NATO-Russian Federation Council NATO and the Russia made a reciprocal commitment in 1997 "to work together to build a stable, secure and undivided continent on the basis of partnership and common interest."

In May 2002, this commitment was strengthened with the establishment of the NATO-Russia Council, which brings together the NATO members and the Russian Federation. The purpose of this council is to identify and pursue opportunities for joint action with the 27 participants as equal partners.

Other partners The Philippines has been a longstanding ally and friend of the U.S. The Philippines was designated a Major Non-NATO Ally on October 6, 2003 to allow the U.S. and the Philippines to work together on military research and development. In April 2005, Australia, which had been appointed a U.S. Major non-NATO ally (MNA) in 1989, signed a security agreement with NATO on enhancing intelligence co-operation in the fight against terrorism. Australia also posted a defence attache to NATO's headquarters.http://english.people.com.cn/200504/02/eng20050402_179138.html Cooperation with Japan (MNA, 1989), El Salvador, Korea {{Infobox Organization|name=North Atlantic Treaty OrganizationOrganisation du traité de l'Atlantique Nord|image = Flag of NATO.svg|caption = Flag of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation|map = Map of NATO countries.png|mcaption = NATO countries shown in blue|type = Military alliance, [Belgium, [French language"English and French shall be the official languages for the entire North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.", Final Communiqué following the meeting of the North Atlantic Council on September 17, 1949. "(..)the English and French texts the Treaty are equally authentic(...)" The North Atlantic Treaty, Article 14|leader_title = Secretary General of NATO|leader_name = Jaap de Hoop Scheffer [1949

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); ; (also called the North Atlantic Alliance, the Atlantic Alliance, or the Western Alliance) is a military alliance, established by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949. With headquarters in Brussels, Belgium,Boulevard Leopold III-laan, B-1110 BRUSSELS, which is in Haren, part of the City of Brussels. the organization established a system of collective defense whereby its member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party. Beginnings The Treaty of Brussels, signed on 17 March 1948 by Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, and the United Kingdom, is considered the precursor to the NATO agreement. This treaty established a military alliance, later to become the Western European Union. However, United States participation was thought necessary in order to counter the military power of the Soviet Union, and therefore talks for a new military alliance began almost immediately.

These talks resulted in the North Atlantic Treaty, which was signed in Washington, D.C. on 4 April 1949. It included the five Treaty of Brussels states, as well as the United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. Three years later, on 18 February 1952, Greece and Turkey also joined.

"Such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force" does not necessarily mean that other member states will respond with military action against the aggressor(s). Rather they are obliged to respond, but maintain the freedom to choose how they will respond. This differs from Article IV of the Treaty of Brussels (which founded the Western European Union) which clearly states that the response must include military action. It is however often assumed that NATO members will aid the attacked member militarily. Further, the article limits the organisation's scope to Europe and North America, which explains why the Falkland war did not result in NATO involvement.

In 1954, the Soviet Union suggested that it should join NATO to preserve peace in Europe. The NATO countries ultimately rejected this proposal.

The incorporation of West Germany into the organisation on 9 May 1955 was described as "a decisive turning point in the history of our continent" by Halvard Lange, Foreign Minister of Norway at the time.BBC On This Day " West Germany accepted into Nato" bbc.co.uk Indeed, one of its immediate results was the creation of the Warsaw Pact, signed on 14 May 1955 by the Soviet Union and its satellite states, as a formal response to this event, thereby delineating the two opposing sides of the Cold War.

Early Cold War The unity of NATO was breached early on in its history, with a crisis occurring during Charles de Gaulle's presidency of France from 1958 onward. De Gaulle protested the United States' hegemonic role in the organisation and what he perceived as a special relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom. In a memorandum sent to President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Prime Minister Harold Macmillan on 17 September 1958, he argued for the creation of a tripartite directorate that would put France on an equal footing with the United States and the United Kingdom, and also for the expansion of NATO's coverage to include geographical areas of interest to France, most notably Algeria, where France was waging a counter-insurgency and sought NATO assistance.

Considering the response given to be unsatisfactory, de Gaulle began to build an independent defence for his country. On 11 March 1959, France withdrew its Mediterranean Sea Naval fleet from NATO command; three months later, in June 1959, de Gaulle banned the stationing of foreign nuclear weapons on French soil. This caused the United States to transfer two hundred military aircraft out of France and return control of the United States Air Force in France it had operated in France since 1950 to the French by 1967. The last of these was the Toul-Rosières Air Base, home of the 26th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, which was relocated to Ramstein Air Base in West Germany.

In the meantime, France had initiated an Nuclear weapons and France Mutually assured destruction programme, spearheaded by the "Force de frappe" ("Striking force"). France tested its first nuclear weapon, Gerboise Bleue, on 13 February 1960.

Though France showed solidarity with the rest of NATO during the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, de Gaulle continued his pursuit of an independent defence by removing France's Atlantic Ocean and English Channel fleets from NATO command. In 1966, all French armed forces were removed from NATO's integrated military command, and all non-French NATO troops were asked to leave France. This withdrawal precipitated the relocation of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) from Paris to Casteau, north of Mons, Belgium, by 16 October 1967. France remained a member of the alliance throughout this period and subsequently rejoined NATO's Military Committee in 1995, and intensified working relations with the military structure. However, France has not yet rejoined the integrated military command and no non-French NATO troops are allowed to be based on its land.

The creation of NATO necessitated the standardisation of military technology and unified strategy, through Command, Control and Communications centres (aka C4ISTAR). The STANAG (Standardisation Agreement) insured such coherence. Hence, the 7.62×51 NATO rifle cartridge was introduced in the 1950s as a standard firearm cartridge among many NATO countries. Fabrique Nationale's FN FAL became the most popular 7.62 NATO rifle in Europe and served into the early 1990s. Also, aircraft marshalling signals were standardised, so that any NATO aircraft could land at any NATO base.

Détente During most of the duration of the Cold War, NATO maintained a holding pattern with no actual military engagement as an organisation. On 1 July 1968, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty opened for signature: NATO argued that its nuclear weapons sharing arrangements did not breach the treaty as U.S. forces controlled the weapons until a decision was made to go to war, at which point the treaty would no longer be controlling. Few states knew of the NATO nuclear sharing arrangements at that time, and they were not challenged.

On 30 May 1978, NATO countries officially defined two complementary aims of the Alliance, to maintain security and pursue détente. This was supposed to mean matching defences at the level rendered necessary by the Warsaw Pact's offensive capabilities without spurring a further arms race.

However, on 12 December 1979, in light of a build-up of Warsaw Pact nuclear capabilities in Europe, ministers approved the deployment of U.S. Cruise missile and Pershing II theatre nuclear weapons in Europe. The new warheads were also meant to strengthen the western negotiating position in regard to nuclear disarmament. This policy was called the Dual-Track Decision policy. Similarly, in 1983–84, responding to the stationing of Warsaw Pact SS-20 medium-range missiles in Europe, NATO deployed modern Pershing II missiles able to reach Moscow within minutes. This action led to peace movement protests throughout Western Europe.

The membership of the organisation in this time period likewise remained largely static. In 1974, as a consequence of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, Greece withdrew its forces from NATO's military command structure, but, with Turkish cooperation, were readmitted in 1980. On 30 May 1982, NATO gained a new member when, following a referendum, the newly democratic Spain joined the alliance.

In November 1983, NATO manoeuvres simulating a nuclear launch caused panic in the Kremlin. The Soviet leadership, led by ailing General Secretary Yuri Andropov, became concerned that the manoeuvres, codenamed Able Archer 83, were the beginnings of a genuine first strike. In response, Soviet nuclear forces were readied and air units in Eastern Germany and Poland were placed on alert. Though at the time written off by U.S. intelligence as a propaganda effort, many historians now believe that the Soviet fear of a NATO first strike was genuine.

Cold War stay-behind armies NATO was founded early in the Cold War with the express aim of defending western Europe against a military invasion by the Soviet Union. On 24 October 1990, Italian Prime minister Giulio Andreotti, a member of the Italian Christian Democracy (Italy) party, publicly revealed the existence of Gladio, known as "stay-behind armies", clandestine paramilitary militia whose role would be to wage guerrilla warfare behind enemy lines in the case of a successful Warsaw Pact invasion. Andreotti told the Italian Parliament that NATO had long held a covert policy of training Partisan (military)s in the event of a Soviet invasion of Western Europe.

Spurred by the difficulties in setting up partisan organisation in occupied Europe during the World War II, the CIA, British MI6 and NATO trained and armed partisan groups in NATO states to fight a guerilla warfare if they were conquered in the event of a Warsaw Pact invasion. Operating in all of NATO and even in neutral countries (Austria, Finland - see also Operation Stella Polaris -, Sweden Concerning Finland, Sweden, and NATO members Norway and Denmark, see William Colby (director of Central Intelligence from 1973 to 1976) and Peter Forbath, Honourable Men: My Life in the CIA, London: Hutchinson & Co., 1978 or Switzerland, one of the three states who had a parliamentary inquiry in the matter) or in Spain before its 1982 adhesion to NATO, Gladio was first coordinated by the Clandestine Committee of the Western Union (CCWU), founded in 1948.NATO's Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe, by Daniele Ganser, Franck Cass, London, 2005 ISBN 0-7146-5607-0. See also NATO’s secret armies linked to terrorism?, by Daniele Ganser, December 17, 2004 — URL accessed on January 18, 2007 After the 1949 creation of NATO, the CCWU was integrated into the Clandestine Planning Committee (CPC), founded in 1951 and overseen by the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe), transferred to Belgium after France’s official retreat from NATO in 1966 — which was not followed by the dissolution of the French stay-behind paramilitary movements. According to historian Daniele Ganser, one of the major researcher on the field, "Next to the CPC, a second secret army command centre, labeled Allied Clandestine Committee (ACC), was set up in 1957 on the orders of NATO's Supreme Allied Commander (SACEUR). This military structure provided for significant U.S. leverage over the secret stay-behind networks in Western Europe as the SACEUR, throughout NATO's history, has traditionally been a U.S. General who reports to the Pentagon in Washington and is based in NATO's Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Mons, Belgium. The ACC's duties included elaborating on the directives of the network, developing its clandestine capability, and organising bases in Britain and the United States. In wartime, it was to plan stay-behind operations in conjunction with SHAPE. According to former CIA director William Colby, it was 'a major programme'." ETH Zurich research project on Gladio directed by Dr. Daniele Ganser

The existence of Gladio, one of the best kept secrets of the Cold War, is now widely recognised. Belgium, Italy and Switzerland have held parliamentary inquiries in the matter. What remains controversial is the ties between Gladio members, of whom many belonged to neo-fascist movements, and false flag terrorist attacks. A NATO spokesman denied on 5 November 1990 any knowledge or involvement with GladioThe European, Nov 9th 1990, quoted by Ganser, p25 and has since refused to comment. The U.S. State Department has itself admitted the existence of Gladio, but denied it has been involved in terrorism, in particular in Italy and in Greece.

In Italy in particular, Gladio paramilitary groups have been accused by the justice of having carried out dozens of terrorist bombings, which were officially blamed on leftist groups such as the Red Brigades. It has been alleged that these groups and the individuals in them were responsible for the strategy of tension in Italy which aimed at impeding the "historic compromise" between the Christian Democracy and the Italian Communist Party (PCI) (including the 1969 Piazza Fontana bombing and the Bologna massacre) political Belgian stay-behind network, Hans Depraetere and Jenny Dierickx, "La Guerre froide en Belgique" ("Cold War in Belgium") (EPO-Dossier, Anvers, 1986) military coups in Greek military junta of 1967-1974 and Military coup in Turkey, 1980 Selahattin Celik, Türkische Konterguerilla. Die Todesmaschinerie (Köln: Mesopotamien Verlag, 1999; see also Olüm Makinasi Türk Kontrgerillasi, 1995), quoting Cuneyit Arcayurek, Coups and the Secret Services, p.190 and an attempted coup in Algiers putsch.Pierre Abramovici and Gabriel Périès, La Grande Manipulation, éd. Hachette, 2006 The supposed aim of this group was to prevent Communist movements in Western Europe from gaining power. Some researchers have said that the true aim was to increase the power and control of the United States over Europe.

In 2000, a report from the Democratic Party of the Left, "Gruppo Democratici di Sinistra l'Ulivo", concluded that the strategy of tension had been supported by the United States to "stop the Italian Communist Party (Communist Party), and to a certain degree also the Italian Socialist Party (Socialist Party), from reaching executive power in the country". A report, stated that "Those massacres, those bombs, those military actions had been organised or promoted or supported by men inside Italian state institutions and, as has been discovered more recently, by men linked to the structures of CIA."

Post-Cold War The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact in 1991 removed the de facto main adversary of NATO. This caused a strategic re-evaluation of NATO's purpose, nature and tasks. In practice this ended up entailing a gradual (and still ongoing) expansion of NATO to Eastern Europe, as well as the extension of its activities to areas that had not formerly been NATO concerns.The first post-Cold War expansion of NATO came with the reunification of Germany on 3 October 1990, when the former East Germany became part of the Federal Republic of Germany and the alliance. This had been agreed in the Two Plus Four Treaty earlier in the year. To secure Soviet approval of a united Germany remaining in NATO, it was agreed that foreign troops and nuclear weapons would not be stationed in the east, and also that NATO would never expand further east.Gorbachev's Lost Legacy by Stephen F. Cohen (link) The Nation, February 24, 2005

On 28 February 1994, NATO also took its first military action, shooting down four Bosnian Serb aircraft violating a U.N.-mandated no-fly zone over central Bosnia and Herzegovina. Operation Deny Flight, the no-fly-zone enforcement mission, had began a year before, on 12 April 1993, and was to continue until 20 December 1995. NATO air strikes that year helped bring the Yugoslav wars to an end, resulting in the Dayton Agreement.

Between 1994 and 1997, wider forums for regional cooperation between NATO and its neighbours were set up, like the Partnership for Peace, the Mediterranean Dialogue initiative and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council. On 8 July 1997, three former communist countries, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Poland, were invited to join NATO, which finally happened in 1999.

On 24 March 1999, NATO saw its first broad-scale military engagement in the Kosovo War, where it waged an Operation Allied Force against what was then the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. A formal declaration of war never took place. Yugoslavia referred to the Kosovo War as military aggression, as being undeclared and contravening the UN Charter.In regards to the definition of aggression reached by consensus and approved by the United Nations General Assembly on 14 December 1974 as Resolution 3314 (XXIX): "Aggression is the use of armed force by a State against the sovereignty, territorial integrity or political independence of another State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Charter of the UN." The conflict ended on 11 June 1999, when Yugoslavian leader Slobodan Milošević agreed to NATO’s demands by accepting United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244. NATO then helped establish the Kosovo Force, a NATO-led force under a United Nations mandate that operated the military mission in Kosovo.

Debate concerning NATO's role and the concerns of the wider international community continued throughout its expanded military activities: The United States opposed efforts to require the U.N. Security Council to approve NATO military strikes, such as the ongoing action against Yugoslavia, while France and other NATO countries claimed the alliance needed U.N. approval. American officials said that this would undermine the authority of the alliance, and they noted that Russia and China would have exercised their Security Council vetoes to block the strike on Yugoslavia. In April 1999, at the Washington summit, a German proposal that NATO adopt a no-first-use nuclear strategy was rejected.

After the September 11 attacks The expansion of the activities and geographical reach of NATO grew even further as an outcome of the September 11, 2001 attacks. These caused as a response the provisional invocation (on September 12) of the collective security of NATO's charter—Article 5 which states that any attack on a member state will be considered an attack against the entire group of members. The invocation was confirmed on 4 October 2001 when NATO determined that the attacks were indeed eligible under the terms of the North Atlantic Treaty.http://www.nato.int/docu/update/2001/1001/e1002a.htm The eight official actions taken by NATO in response to the attacks included the first two examples of military action taken in response to an invocation of Article 5: Operation Eagle Assist and Operation Active Endeavour.

Despite this early show of solidarity, NATO faced a crisis little more than a year later, when on 10 February 2003, France and Belgium vetoed the procedure of silent approval concerning the timing of protective measures for Turkey in case of a possible war with Iraq. Germany did not use its right to break the procedure but said it supported the veto.

On the issue of Afghanistan on the other hand, the alliance showed greater unity: On 16 April 2003 NATO agreed to take command of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. The decision came at the request of Germany and the Netherlands, the two nations leading ISAF at the time of the agreement, and all 19 NATO ambassadors approved it unanimously. The handover of control to NATO took place on 11 August, and marked the first time in NATO’s history that it took charge of a mission outside the north Atlantic area. Canada had originally been slated to take over ISAF by itself on that date.

In January 2004, NATO appointed Minister Hikmet Çetin, of Turkey, as the Senior Civilian Representative (SCR) in Afghanistan. Minister Cetin is primarily responsible for advancing the political-military aspects of the Alliance in Afghanistan.

On 31 July 2006, a NATO-led force, made up mostly of troops from Canada, Great Britain, Turkey and the Netherlands, took over Coalition combat operations in Afghanistan in 2006 from a U.S.-led anti-terrorism coalition.

Expansion and restructuring 2004.New NATO structures were also formed while old ones were abolished: The NATO Response Force (NRF) was launched at the 2002 Prague Summit of NATO on 21 November. On 19 June 2003, a major restructuring of the NATO military commands began as the Headquarters of the Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic were abolished and a new command, Allied Command Transformation (ACT), was established in Norfolk, Virginia, USA, and the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) became the Headquarters of Allied Command Operations (ACO). ACT is responsible for driving transformation (future capabilities) in NATO, whilst ACO is responsible for current operations.

Membership went on expanding with the accession of seven more Northern European and Eastern European countries to NATO: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania (see Baltic Air Policing) and also Slovenia, Slovakia, Bulgaria, and Romania. They were first invited to start talks of membership during the 2002 Prague Summit, and joined NATO on 29 March 2004, shortly before the 2004 Istanbul Summit.

A number of other countries have also expressed a wish to join the alliance, including Albania, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Georgia (country), Montenegro and Ukraine.

From the Russian point of view, NATO's eastward expansion since the end of the Cold War has been in clear breach of an agreement between Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and U.S. President George H. W. Bush which allowed for a peaceful German reunification. NATO's expansion policy is seen as a continuation of a Cold War attempt to surround and isolate Russia.NATO Seeking to Weaken CIS by Expansion — Russian General (link) MosNews 01.12.2005Ukraine moves closer to NATO membership By Taras Kuzio (Link) Jamestown FoundationGlobal Realignment Condoleezza Rice wants Russia to acknowledge USA's interests on post-Soviet space (Link) Pravda 04.05.2006

The 2006 NATO summit was held in Riga, Latvia, which had joined the Atlantic Alliance two years earlier. It is the first NATO summit to be held in a country that was part of the Soviet Union, and the second one in a former COMECON country (after the 2002 Prague Summit). Energy Security was one of the main themes of the Riga Summit.

ISAF In August 2003, NATO commenced its first mission ever outside Europe when it assumed control over International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. However, some critics feel that national caveats or other restrictions undermine the efficiency of ISAF. For instance, political scientist Joseph Nye stated in a 2006 article that "many NATO countries with troops in Afghanistan have "national caveats" that restrict how their troops may be used. While the Riga summit relaxed some of these caveats to allow assistance to allies in dire circumstances, Britain, Canada, the Netherlands, and the U.S. are doing most of the fighting in southern Afghanistan, while French, German, and Italian troops are deployed in the quieter north. At the hands of the escalation of the fighting, France has recently accepted to redeploy its bombers in the south to help the other countrieshttp://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0@2-3232,36-949296@51-947771,0.html. It is difficult to see how NATO can succeed in stabilising Afghanistan unless it is willing to commit more troops and give commanders more flexibility." J. NYE, "NATO after Riga", 14 December 2006, http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/nye40 If these caveats were to be eliminated, it is argued that this could help NATO to succeed.

NATO missile defence talks controversy For some years, the United States negotiated with Poland and the Czech Republic for the deployment of interceptor missiles and a radar tracking system in the two countries. Both countries' governments indicated that they would allow the deployment. The proposed American missile defence site in Central Europe is believed to be fully operational in 2015 and would be capable of covering most of Europe except part of Romania plus Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey.http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-04/19/content_6001014.htm

In April 2007, NATO's European allies called for a NATO missile defence system which would complement the American National Missile Defense system to protect Europe from missile attacks and NATO's decision-making North Atlantic Council held consultations on missile defence in the first meeting on the topic at such a senior level.

In response, Russian president Vladimir Putin claimed that such a deployment could lead to a new arms race and could enhance the likelihood of mutual destruction. He also suggested that his country should freeze its compliance with the 1990 Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) - which limits military deployments across the continent - until all NATO countries had ratified the adapted CFE treaty.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6594379.stm

Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the system would not affect strategic balance or threaten Russia, as the plan is to base only 10 interceptor missiles in Poland with an associated radar in the Czech Republic.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6570533.stm

On July 14, Russia notified its intention to suspend the CFE treaty, effective 150 days later.

Membership There are currently 26 members within NATO.

{| class="wikitable"!width=12% | Date!width=14% | Country!width=8% | Expansion!width=55% | Notes|-| rowspan=12| April 4 1949 and has recently provided troops trained in Norway for NATO peacekeeping.|-| |||-| |||-| |||-| |||-| |||-| |||-| |||-| rowspan=2| [18 February 1952 ] following the 1974 Turkish invasion of Cyprus.] 1955 ]; Saarland reunited with it in 1957 and the territory of the former German Democratic Republic reunited with it on 3 October 1990)] 1982 ] 1999 ] 2004 || || rowspan=7 align=center| Fifth |||-| |||-| |||-| |||-| |||-| |||-| |||-|}

Future membership Article X of the North Atlantic Treaty makes it possible that non-member states join NATO: North Atlantic Treaty, Washington D.C. - 4 April 1949, , retrieved on February 22 2007.

Note that this article poses two general limits to non-member states: (1) only European states are eligible for membership and (2) these states need the approval of all the existing member states. The second criterion means that every member state can put some criteria forward that have to be attained. In practice, NATO formulates in most cases a common set of criteria, but for instance in the case of Cyprus, Turkey blocks Cyprus' wish to be able to apply for membership as long as the Cyprus dispute is not resolved.

Membership Action Plan As a procedure for nations wishing to join NATO, a mechanism called Membership Action Plan (MAP) was approved in the Washington Summit of 1999. A country's participation in MAP entails the annual presentation of reports concerning its progress on five different measures:

NATO provides feedback as well as technical advice to each country and evaluates its progress on an individual basis.http://www.nato.int/issues/map/index.html

NATO is also unlikely to invite countries such as the Republic of Ireland, Sweden, Finland, Austria and Switzerland, where popular opinions do not support NATO membership. NATO officially recognises the policy of neutrality practised in these countries, and does not consider the failure to set a goal for NATO membership as a sign of distrust.

{]! Individual Partnership Action Plan! NATO membership declared as goal! Intensified Dialogue! Membership Action Plan! NATO membership] || - || - || - || - || -|-| || Former signatory, 1995–1996 || - || || - || - || -|}

Debate about membership Croatia The Croatian government considers NATO membership a top priority, and a 2003 opinion poll showed that about 60% of the Croatian citizens were in favor of NATO membership. "Poll: Croatians against NATO membership" in The Malaysian Sun, May 4 2006 Support for membership declined after 2003, was only 29% in 2006, but resurged during 2007. N. RADIC, "Croatia mulls new strategy for NATO" in The Southeast European Times, 4 December 2006, L. VESELICA, U.S. Backs Albania, Croatia, Macedonia NATO Bid, June 5 2006 It is not yet known how Croatia will make the final decision about membership: through an act of parliament or via a binding referendum, but on 23 March 2007, Croatian president Stjepan Mesić, prime minister Ivo Sanader and president of parliament Vladimir Šeks declared that there is no need for a referendum, because they are convinced that the Croatian population supports entry to NATO.http://www.seeurope.net/?q=node/6610 Earlier, in 2006, the Croatian government was planning a public campaign to promote the benefits of membership. A May 2007 poll conducted by the government shows growing support for NATO membership as 52% of the population (up 9% from March) supports membership and only 25% are against.

Recently, it was made public that a Slovenian military air base in Cerklje ob Krki, near the Croatian border would be transformed in a NATO base. In 2010 the base would become operational and it is expected that the military planes of this base will have to use Croatian air space . Local inhabitants and environmentalists from both sides of the border are expressing their concerns about this base.

Finland Finland is participating in nearly all sub-areas of the Partnership for Peace programme, and has provided peacekeeping forces to the Afghanistan and Kosovo missions. Polls in Finland indicate that the public is strongly against NATO membership "Clear majority of Finns still opposed to NATO membership", Helsingin Sanomat. and the possibility of Finland's membership in NATO was one of the most major issues debated in relation to the Finnish presidential election, 2006.

The main contester of the President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö of the National Coalition Party (Finland), supported Finland joining a "more European" NATO. Fellow right-winger Henrik Lax of the Swedish People's Party (Finland) likewise supported the concept. On the other side, president Tarja Halonen of the Social Democratic Party of Finland opposed changing the status quo, as did most other candidates in the election. Her victory and re-election to the post of president has currently put the issue of a NATO membership for Finland on hold for at least the duration of her term. Finland could however change its official position on NATO membership after the new E.U. treaty clarifies if there will be any new E.U.–level defence deal, but in the meantime Helsinki's Finnish Defence Forces is pushing to join NATO and its Finnish Army is making technical preparations for membershiphttp://euobserver.com/9/23948, stating that it would increase Finland's security. "Häkämies: Nato-jäsenyys Suomen etu", MTV3 Internet. Retrieved on 4-26-2007.

Other political figures of Finland who have weighed in with opinions include former President of Finland Martti Ahtisaari who has argued that Finland should join all the organisations supported by other Western democracies in order "to shrug off once and for all the burden of Finlandisation". "Former President Ahtisaari: NATO membership would put an end to Finlandisation murmurs", Helsingin Sanomat. An ex-president, Mauno Koivisto, opposes the idea, arguing that NATO membership would ruin Finland's relations with Russia. "Finland, NATO, and Russia", Helsingin Sanomat.

Serbia During the 2006 Riga Summit Serbia joined the Partnership for Peace programme. While this programme is often the first step towards full NATO membership, it is uncertain whether Serbia perceives it an intent to join the allianceDragan Jočić, Minister of interior affairs of Serbia: Military independence is not isolation (in Serbian) (NATO fought Bosnian Serb forces during the Bosnia war and Serbia during the 1999 Kosovo conflict). An overwhelming Serbian majority opposes NATO membership. Recently the DS party of Serbia which is seen as overwhelmingly pro-EU has given hints that it is also wished to integrate the country into NATO. Although they remain silent on the issue most of the time (so as not to lose popularity) it is facing a problem from its coalition partners DSS and NS which are diametrically opposed to NATO membership. Recently these parties have begun verbal attacks on NATO for its presence in the Serbian province of Kosovo accusing them of establishing a NATO state, governed from Camp Bondsteelhttp://www.b92.net/eng/news/in_focus.php?id=96&start=0&nav_id=43417. As of now Serbia does not intend to join NATO and the idea has been shelved as a low priority in the Serbian governments plans.

Unofficially a poll has not been taken to see just how many people in Serbia are in support for NATO, some believe this to be deliberate, choosing to "not know" how many people would voice their "support". The DS party is taking an incredible risk to its popularity in the case of supporting NATO membership. Its confrontation with DSS will directly affect the two party's popularity. The Serbian Ministry of Defense and the Serbian President are both from the DS party while the Prime Minister is of the DSS.

Sweden In 1949 Sweden elected not to join NATO and declared a security policy aiming for: non-alignment in peace, neutrality in war. A modified version now states: non-alignment in peace for possible neutrality in war. This position was maintained without much discussion during the Cold War. Since the 1990s however there has been an active debate in Sweden on the question of NATO membership in the post-Cold War world. While the governing parties in Sweden have opposed membership, they have participated in NATO-led missions in Bosnia (IFOR and SFOR), Kosovo (Kosovo Force) and Afghanistan (International Security Assistance Force).

The Swedish Centre Party (Sweden) and Swedish Social Democratic Party have remained in favour of non-alignment. This view is shared by Green and Left parties in Sweden. The Moderate Party and the Liberal People's Party (Sweden) lean toward NATO membership.

These ideological cleavages were visible again in November 2006 when Sweden could either buy two new transport planes or join NATO's plane pool, "Sweden 'should join Nato plane pool'" in The Local, November 11, 2006, and in December 2006, when Sweden was invited to join the NATO Response Force. "Sweden could join new Nato force" in The Local, December 2, 2006,

A 2005 poll indicated that more Swedes were opposed to NATO membership than there were supporters (46% against, 22% for). AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, "Swedes Still Opposed to NATO Membership: Poll" in DefenseNews, May 15, 2006,

Ukraine Ukraine Defence Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko declared that Ukraine would have an Action Plan on NATO membership by the end of March 2006, to begin implementation by September 2006. A final decision concerning Ukraine's membership in NATO is expected to be made in 2008, with full membership possible by 2010.http://en.for-ua.com/news/2006/03/20/114232.html

The idea of Ukrainian membership in NATO has gained support from a number of NATO leaders, including President Traian Băsescu of Romania "Bulgaria’s capital to host NATO talks" and president Ivan Gašparovič of Slovakia.http://www.slovakspectator.sk/clanok.asp?cl=22855 The Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, Alexander Grushko, announced however that NATO membership for Ukraine was not in Russia's best interests and wouldn't help the relations of the two countries.http://www.interfax.kiev.ua/eng/go.cgi?31,20060424001

Currently a majority of Ukrainian citizens oppose NATO membership, independently of their respective political views and beliefs. Protests have taken place by opposition blocs against the idea, and petitions signed urging the end of relations with NATO. Former Prime Minister Yuriy Yekhanurov has indicated Ukraine will not enter NATO as long as the public continues opposing the move.http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=4735634&PageNum=0Plans for membership were shelved on 14 September 2006 due to the overwhelming disapproval of NATO membership.http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/09/14/ukraine.nato.reut/index.html?section=cnn_world Currently the Ukrainian Government started an information campaign, aimed at informing the Ukrainian people about the consequences of membership. The likelihood of a referendum regarding membership is growing.

Cooperation with non-member states ]

Euro-Atlantic Partnership A double framework has been established to help further co-operation between the 26 NATO members and 23 "partner countries".



The 23 partner countries are the following:

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Individual Partnership Action Plans Launched at the November 2002 Prague Summit, Individual Partnership Action Plans (IPAPs) are open to countries that have the political will and ability to deepen their relationship with NATO.http://www.nato.int/issues/ipap/index.html

Currently IPAPs are in implementation with the following countries:



Intensified Dialogue Intensified Dialogue with NATO is viewed as a stage before being invited to enter the alliance Membership Action Plan (MAP), while the latter should eventually lead to NATO membership.

Countries currently engaged in an Intensified Dialogue with NATO:



Mediterranean Dialogue The Mediterranean Dialogue, first launched in 1994 is a forum of cooperation between NATO and seven countries of the Mediterranean:http://www.nato.int/med-dial/home.htm On 16 October 2006, NATO and Israel finalised the first ever Individual Cooperation Programme (ICP) under the enhanced Mediterranean Dialogue, where Israel will be contributing to the NATO maritime Operation Active Endeavour.http://www.nato.int/docu/pr/2006/p06-123e.htm The ICP covers many areas of common interest, such as the fight against terrorism and joint military exercises in the Mediterranean Sea.

NATO-Russian Federation Council NATO and the Russia made a reciprocal commitment in 1997 "to work together to build a stable, secure and undivided continent on the basis of partnership and common interest."

In May 2002, this commitment was strengthened with the establishment of the NATO-Russia Council, which brings together the NATO members and the Russian Federation. The purpose of this council is to identify and pursue opportunities for joint action with the 27 participants as equal partners.

Other partners The Philippines has been a longstanding ally and friend of the U.S. The Philippines was designated a Major Non-NATO Ally on October 6, 2003 to allow the U.S. and the Philippines to work together on military research and development. In April 2005, Australia, which had been appointed a U.S. Major non-NATO ally (MNA) in 1989, signed a security agreement with NATO on enhancing intelligence co-operation in the fight against terrorism. Australia also posted a defence attache to NATO's headquarters.http://english.people.com.cn/200504/02/eng20050402_179138.html Cooperation with Japan (MNA, 1989), El Salvador, Korea

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