Enlargement

At the Bucharest Summit in April 2008, Albania and Croatia were invited to begin accession talks with NATO. Allied leaders also agreed to invite the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia¹ as soon as a mutually acceptable solution to the issue over the country’s name has been reached with Greece. All three countries have been participating in NATO’s Membership Action Plan (MAP) for a number of years to prepare for possible membership.

Allied leaders agreed at Bucharest that Georgia and Ukraine – which are currently engaged in an Intensified Dialogue with NATO on their membership aspirations and related reforms – will be members in future. Both countries’ applications to join the MAP process will be reviewed by NATO foreign ministers in December 2008. Intensified Dialogues were also offered to Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro at the summit.

NATO’s most recent intake of new members took place on 29 March 2004, when seven new countries formally joined the Alliance: Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. This was the fifth, and the largest, round of enlargement in the Alliance’s history.

What does this mean in practice?

Aspirant countries are expected to participate in the Membership Action Plan to prepare for potential membership and demonstrate their ability to meet the obligations and commitments of possible future membership. They must then be officially invited by NATO to begin accession talks with the Alliance.

How did this policy evolve?

Since the Alliance was created in 1949, its membership has grown from the 12 founders to today’s 26 members. Enlargement is in fact an on-going and dynamic process, based upon Article 10 of the Washington Treaty, which states that membership is open to any “European State in a position to further the principles of this Treaty and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area”.

Which NATO bodies have a central role?

Invitations to join the Alliance are issued by the North Atlantic Council, NATO’s principal decision-making body. Relations with partner and aspirant countries are maintained by NATO’s international staff as well as specialized committees, subordinate to the Council.