PRESS INFO 4 July 1997

What is NATO ?

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) was established by the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty, commonly referred to as the Treaty of Washington. NATO's current 16 member states are: Belgium Greece (since 1952) Norway Canada Iceland Portugal Denmark Italy Spain (since 1982) France Luxembourg Turkey (since 1952) Germany (since 1955) The Netherlands United Kingdom United States In accordance with the decisions of NATO Heads of State and Government at the July 1997 Summit Meeting in Madrid, other countries are being invited to begin negotiations with a view to becoming members of the Alliance under the terms of Article 10 of the Treaty of Washington. The Alliance will remain open to future, additional accessions at a later date. Political Goals and Basic Tasks The North Atlantic Alliance embodies the transatlantic partnership between the European members of NATO and the United States and Canada, designed to bring about peace and stability throughout Europe. The objectives of the partnership between the European and North American members of the Alliance are primarily political, underpinned by shared defence planning and military cooperation and by cooperation and consultation in economic, scientific, environmental and other relevant fields. Throughout the years of the Cold War, however, NATO focused above all on the development and maintenance of collective defence and on overcoming the fundamental political issues dividing Europe. Today its focus is on promoting stability throughout Europe through cooperation and by developing the means for collective crisis management and peacekeeping. NATO is an alliance based on political and military cooperation among independent member countries, established in accordance with Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. As stated in the preamble to the North Atlantic Treaty, Alliance members are committed to safeguarding the freedom, common heritage and civilisation of their peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law. Article 4 of the Treaty provides for consultations among the Allies whenever any of them believes that their territorial integrity, political independence or security is threatened. NATO member states are committed to the defence of one another by Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty. This stipulates that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered as an attack against them all.

Decision Taking NATO decisions are taken on the basis of consensus, after discussion and consultation among the member nations. As a multinational, inter-governmental association of free and independent states, NATO has no supranational authority or policy-making function independent of its members. Decisions taken by NATO are therefore decisions taken by all its member countries. By the same token, NATO can only implement a course of action if all the member countries are in agreement. NATO's Transformation Throughout its history NATO has evolved to take account of changing circumstances. During the 1990s, it has undergone a process of far-reaching adaptation, in the light of the changes which have occurred following the end of the Cold War, in order to meet new challenges. Its core mission remains collective defence, but its organisation, military capability and structures have been adapted to enable it to address new tasks, in particular those involving cooperation with non-member countries and crisis management. The Alliance has developed procedures and mechanisms for close cooperation with its Partner countries, for example through Partnership for Peace, the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, the NATO-Russia Founding Act, and the NATO-Ukraine Charter. It has reduced its military capabilities and structures significantly. Through the development, within the Alliance, of the European Security and Defence Identity and of the concept of Combined Joint Task Forces, NATO now is capable of organising a range of responses to a wide range of operational possibilities. It has evolved as an organisation and has developed its political and military structures to take account of the transformation of the European security environment. Changes in NATO's structures and policies reflect the common agreement between NATO member countries to maintain the political and military cooperation essential for their joint security. At the same time, they have extended their cooperation to new partners in Central and Eastern Europe, in order to promote stability and security in Europe as a whole. Key Innovations Key innovations undertaken since 1989 include the adoption of a new Strategic Concept; development of increased coordination and cooperation with other international institutions, such as the United Nations (UN), the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the Western European Union (WEU) and the European Union (EU); and agreement to make NATO's assets and experience available to support international peacekeeping operations. NATO supported UN peacekeeping efforts in the former Yugoslavia beginning in 1992, until the successful conclusion of a peace agreement in December 1995 and the deployment of the NATO-led Implementation Force (IFOR.) At the end of 1996, IFOR was replaced by a NATO-led Stabilisation Force (SFOR). NATO's Strategic Concept The Strategic Concept adopted at the 1991 Rome Summit meeting combined a broad approach to security based on dialogue and cooperation with the maintenance of NATO's collective defence capability. The Strategic Concept was notable for setting out the routemap by which NATO would evolve in the future. There were three key areas of new emphasis: a broad approach to security, in which cooperation and dialogue would play a prominent part; military capabilities would be reduced but restructured for crisis management missions, as well as collective defence; and the European Allies would assume a greater responsibility for their own security. The concept provided for reduced dependence on nuclear weapons and introduced major changes in NATO's integrated military forces, including substantial reductions in their size and readiness; improvements in their mobility, flexibility and adaptability to different contingencies; increased use of multinational formations; the creation of a multinational Rapid Reaction Corps; and the adaptation of defence planning arrangements and procedures. NATO's military command structure was streamlined and the Alliance's defence planning arrangements were adapted in order to take into account future requirements for crisis management and peacekeeping. The direction set by the Strategic Concept was intensified by subsequent decisions. Partnership for Peace created permanent mechanisms for close military cooperation. The concept of Combined Joint Task Forces was introduced at the 1994 Brussels Summit, designed to make NATO's joint military assets available for wider operations by NATO nations or by the Western European Union. Since 1996 the European Security and Defence Identity is being developed within NATO. NATO Foreign Ministers decided at their meeting in Sintra, Portugal, on 29 May 1997, that the Strategic Concept should be reviewed to ensure that it remains consistent with developments which have taken place since it was agreed. The Madrid Summit: July 1997 The Madrid Summit brings together the many strands of change which have been underway since the start of the decade. The new NATO can be characterised by the following: a commitment to the defence of its members; a commitment to the wider stability of the Euro-Atlantic area through: the accession of new members; the establishment of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, which brings together all OSCE countries capable and willing to join in a process of cooperative security; The development of Partnership for Peace as a programme of military cooperation designed to improve the ability of Allies and Partners for joint action in a crisis; the introduction of new mechanisms for a close and permanent relationship with Russia; the implementation of a Charter for a distinctive partnership with Ukraine; the streamlining and optimisation of the military command structure to enable it to undertake crisis management and peacekeeping operations which could include the participation of Partner countries; the development of a European Security Identity within NATO and, for operations where it is agreed that the Western European Union should have responsibility, arrangements for the loan of Alliance assets and capabilities; the establishment of a Mediterranean dialogue designed to contribute to security and stability in the Mediterranean and to improve understanding. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Washington on 4 April 1999.