[133], The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina within Bosnia and Herzegovina has expressed willingness to join NATO, however, it faces consistent political pressure from Republika Srpska, the other political entity in the country, alongside its partners in Russia. The prospect of a rearmed Germany was understandably greeted with widespread unease and hesitancy in western Europe, but the country's strength had long been recognized as necessary to protect . Moldova joined NATO's Partnership for Peace in 1994, and initiated an Individual Partnership Action Plan in 2010. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. There was also an internal security component to the agreement that proved useful to the USSR. [288] Relations with NATO were further strained following Kosovo's declaration of independence in 2008, while it was a protectorate of the United Nations with security support from NATO. Bosnia and Herzegovina joined the Partnership for Peace in 2006, and signed an agreement on security cooperation in March 2007. On 22 April 2010, NATO agreed to launch the Membership Action Plan for Bosnia and Herzegovina, but with certain conditions attached. "Precluded or precedent-setting? [306], Several other current NATO Global Partners have been proposed as candidates for full 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. [229], Membership of Austria in the European Union (or its predecessor organizations) was controversial due to the Austrian commitment to neutrality. After that date, NATO numbered 26 allies. NATO continued its existence beyond the Cold War era and gained new member nations in Eastern Europe during the late 1990s. [7], Twelve countries were part of the founding of NATO: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. 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. He does not want Ukraine integrated into the Euro-Atlantic structures of NATO or the EU, nor does he want a secure and democratic Ukraine on his doorstep. [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. [140] Bosnian chances of joining NATO may depend on Serbia's attitude towards the alliance, since the leadership of Republika Srpska might be reluctant to go against Serbian interests. Olivier was concerned that the presence of the NATO headquarters in Malta, without the security guarantees that NATO membership entailed, made the country a potential target. (31 Mar 2023). When Soviet leaders found it necessary to use military force to put down revolts in Hungary in 1956 and in Czechoslovakia in 1968, for example, they presented the action as being carried out by the Warsaw Pact rather than by the USSR alone. In . [196] Russian leaders like Prime Minister and President-Elect Dmitry Medvedev made clear their opposition to Ukraine membership, and leading up to the April 2008 Bucharest summit their emissary actively lobbied against a Ukrainian MAP. [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. In 1949, the prospect of further Communist expansion prompted the United States and 11 other Western nations to form the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). On 21 November 2011, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev while addressing soldiers in Vladikavkaz near the Georgian border stated that Russia's 2008 invasion had prevented any further NATO enlargement into the former Soviet sphere. [63] Croatia's prospect of membership sparked a national debate on whether a referendum on NATO membership needed to be held before joining the organization. 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. [84], Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, opinion polling for the first time showed a clear majority of Finns supported joining NATO. The accession process is overseen by the North Atlantic Council, NATO's governing body. [142] On 2 March 2022, Vjosa Osmani, the President of Kosovo, called on NATO to speed up the membership process for Kosovo and Bosnia and Herzegovina. [254] An August 2022 poll found 52% in favor of joining and 48% opposed. A serious issue confronting NATO in the early and mid-1950s was the negotiation of West Germany's participation in the alliance. HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. [6] On 3 March 2022, a resolution was passed by Kosovo's Parliament requesting that the government "take all necessary steps to join NATO, European Union, Council of Europe and other international organizations". This was the result of several years of deliberations among western leaders and Germany, whose population opposed any form of rearmament. [109], Intensified Dialogue was first introduced in April 2005 at an informal meeting of foreign ministers in Vilnius, Lithuania, as a response to Ukrainian aspirations for NATO membership and related reforms taking place under President Viktor Yushchenko, and which followed the 2002 signing of the NATOUkraine Action Plan under his predecessor, Leonid Kuchma. While 84% of those who identified as Bosniak or Croat supported NATO membership, only 9% of those who identified as Serb did. The final agreement signed by Russia and the west in September 1990 applied only to Germany. [110], In September 2006, Georgia became the second to be offered the Intensified Dialogue status, following a rapid change in foreign policy under President Mikhail Saakashvili,[111] and what they perceived as a demonstration of military readiness during the 2006 Kodori crisis. In the aftermath of World War I and World War II, Soviet leaders felt very apprehensive about Germany once again becoming a military powera concern that was shared by many European nations on both sides of the Cold War divide. [187], In September 2019, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that "NATO approaching our borders is a threat to Russia. [69] Montenegro also began full membership with the Adriatic Charter of NATO aspirants in May 2009. Following its dissolution, several states which maintained neutrality during the Cold War or were post-Soviet states increased their ties with Western institutions, including a number of them requesting to join NATO. [74], North Macedonia joined the Partnership for Peace in 1995, and commenced its Membership Action Plan in 1999, at the same time as Albania. The 1994 Brussels Declaration reaffirmed the principles in Article 10 and led to the "Study on NATO Enlargement". [299] In 2007, then-US presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani suggested including Singapore and Israel, among others. West Germany formally joined NATO on May 5, 1955, and the Warsaw Pact was signed less than two weeks later, on May 14. Russia, led by President Boris Yeltsin, became the most prominent of the independent states. [209] NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has stated that NATO membership is still an option for Ukraine,[210] and support for NATO membership has risen to 64 percent in government-controlled Ukraine according to a July 2015 poll. For example, about four-in-ten Democrats say NATO's influence in the world has been getting stronger in recent years (39%), compared with about three-in-ten Republicans (29%). "[299], Christopher Sands of the Hudson Institute proposed Mexican membership of NATO in order to enhance NATO cooperation with Mexico and develop a "North American pillar" for regional security,[300] while Christopher Skaluba and Gabriela Doyle of the Atlantic Council promoted the idea as way to support democracy in Latin America. [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. [249][250] While Taoiseach Michel Martin said in 2022 that Ireland would not need to hold a referendum in order to join NATO, Irish constitutional lawyers have pointed to the precedent set by the 1987 case Crotty v. An Taoiseach as suggesting it would be necessary, and that any attempt to join NATO without a referendum would likely be legally challenged in the country's courts in a similar way. The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine reignited debate surrounding NATO membership in several countries. [76], In June 2017, Macedonian Prime Minister Zoran Zaev signaled he would consider alternative names for the country in order to strike a compromise with Greece, settle the naming dispute and lift Greek objections to Macedonia joining the alliance. [172] Of their coalition partners, the Green Party remain opposed,[173] while the Left Party would like to hold a referendum on the subject, something Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson has rejected. ", This page was last edited on 29 April 2023, at 15:14. [264][265][266] Ultimately, Olivier supported the alliance and signed a defense agreement with the UK for use of Maltese military facilities in exchange for around 2 million a year. The alliance provided a mechanism for the Soviets to exercise even tighter control over the other Communist states in Eastern Europe and deter pact members from seeking greater autonomy. [224] In 2000, Russian President Vladimir Putin floated the idea of Russia potentially joining NATO. We strive for accuracy and fairness. Wawrzyk stressed that Poland supports Ukraine's accession to both NATO and the EU. Macedonia was part of the Vilnius Group, and had formed the Adriatic Charter with Croatia and Albania in 2003 to better coordinate NATO accession. [204] US President Barack Obama echoed this position the following week, while calling for greater NATO presence in Central Europe.
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