During the process of the enlargement of the European Union, the acquis was divided into 31 chapters for the purpose of negotiation between the EU and the candidate member states for the fifth enlargement ( the ten that joined in 2004 plus Romania and Bulgaria which joined in 2007 ).

Bulgaria joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 2004, and currently maintains a total 776 deployed troops in three countries.

Croatia's median equivalent household income tops average Purchasing Power Standard of the ten countries which joined the EU in 2004, while trailing the EU average.

EU accession negotiations started on 31 March 1998, and concluded when Cyprus joined the organization as a full member in 2004.

This goal was rapidly met with great success, as the nation joined NATO in 1999 and the European Union in 2004, and held the Presidency of the European Union during the first half of 2009.

Paul Hester joined The Finn Brothers on stage for three songs at their Palais Theatre show in Melbourne at the end of 2004.

Nick Seymour also joined them on stage in Dublin, where he was living, in 2004.

Recently, the overriding goal of Hungarian economic policy has been to prepare the country for entry into the European Union, which it joined in late 2004.

He is the Francis Eppes Professor of Chemistry at the Florida State University, which he joined in 2004 ; prior to that he spent a large part of his career at the University of Sussex, where he holds an emeritus professorship.

In 2004, Voight joined Nicolas Cage, in National Treasure as Patrick Gates, the father of Cage's character.

Lithuania joined NATO on March 29, 2004 and joined the EU on May 1, 2004.

Since Malta joined the EU in 2004 expatriate communities emerged in a number of European countries particularly in Belgium and Luxembourg.

On 1 May 2004 Malta joined the EU and on 1 January 2008, the Eurozone with the euro as the national currency.

The island joined the EU in 2004.

Djermakoye joined the government as a Minister of State in November 2002, serving in that position until December 2004.

Poland joined the EU in May 2004.

Poland formally joined the European Union in May 2004, along with the other members of the Visegrád group.

Romania joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 2004, and the European Union, alongside Bulgaria, on January 1, 2007.

With his 2004 win, he joined Gaylord Perry, Randy Johnson and Pedro Martínez as the only pitchers to win it in both leagues and became the oldest pitcher to ever win the Cy Young.

Slovakia joined NATO on 29 March 2004 and the EU on 1 May 2004.

Despite the presence of more than 9, 000 UN forces ( UNOCI ) in Côte d ' Ivoire since 2004, ethnic conflict continues to spread into neighboring states who can no longer send their migrant workers to work in Ivorian cocoa plantations.

* French forces: troops sent within the framework of Operation Unicorn and under UN mandate ( United Nations Operation in Côte d ' Ivoire ), 3000 men in February 2003 and 4600 in November 2004 ;

In 2004, following an air strikes on French peacekeepers by Ivorian forces, the French military destroyed all aircraft in the Air Force of Côte d ' Ivoire.

According to a March 2004 BBC profile, politics within the country are dominated by tensions between Obiang's son, Teodorin, and other close relatives with powerful positions in the security forces.

Around 40 % of mosques were destroyed in 1998-99, and 140 Orthodox churches were reported to have been destroyed or damaged in the six weeks after the withdrawal of Serbian forces, and around 30 in another outburst of violence in 2004.

On October 7, 2004, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan reported to the Security Council that Syria had failed to withdraw its forces from Lebanon.

Mali is an active contributor to peacekeeping forces in West and Central Africa ; the Library of Congress said that in 2004 Mali was participating in United Nations operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo ( MONUC, 28 personnel including 27 observers ), Liberia ( UNMIL, 252 personnel, including 4 observers ), and Sierra Leone ( 3 observers ).

* 2004 – War in Iraq: The interim government of Iraq calls for a 60-day " state of emergency " as U. S. forces storm the insurgent stronghold of Fallujah.

The conduct of U. S. forces was criticised in a report entitled Enduring Freedom-Abuses by U. S. Forces in Afghanistan by U. S .- based human rights group, Human Rights Watch in 2004.

In early 2004 the government reaffirmed its commitment to implement cuts within the armed forces, with a definitive restructuring expected to take place.

UN forces returned primary responsibility for security in the area around the capital to Sierra Leone's police and armed forces in September 2004 ; it was the last part of the country to be turned over.

On 30 June 2004, Saddam Hussein, held in custody by U. S. forces at the U. S. base " Camp Cropper ", along with 11 other senior Ba ' athist leaders, were handed over legally ( though not physically ) to the interim Iraqi government to stand trial for crimes against humanity and other offences.

The Thai mission in Iraq was considered successful and the forces withdrew in August 2004.

By 1988, the U. S. Department of Defense ( DoD ) issued Instruction 4630. 8 ( reissued in 1992, 2002, 2004 ) stating its policy that “ all forces for joint and combined operations be supported through compatible, interoperable, and integrated Command, Control, Communications, and Intelligence systems.

His critics, notably Steve Forbes, attributed the rapid rise in commodity prices and gold to Greenspan's loose monetary policy, and by late 2004 the price of gold was higher than its 12 year moving average ; these same forces were also blamed for excessive asset inflation and the weakening of the dollar.

It has been debated that, “ when declared support for the U. S .- led war on Iraq in March 2003, and when he sent Japanese forces to aid the occupation in January 2004, it was not Iraq that was in the Japanese sights so much as North Korea .” Japan ’ s unstable relations with North Korea, as well as other neighboring Asian countries has forced Japan to batter and bend Article 9 to “ permit an increasingly expansive interpretation ” of the constitution in the hopes of guaranteeing U. S. support in these relations.

It is unclear what the military forces were seeking, although a spokesman for Ahmed Chalabi said Chalabi had been held at gunpoint and told to accept concessions then being put in place by the United States in preparation for a transfer of sovereignty on June 30, 2004.

" In March 2004, there were an estimated 17, 000 children in government forces, allied militias and opposition armed groups in the north, east and south.

In 2004, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers ( CSUCS ) reported that in Asia thousands of children are involved in fighting forces in active conflict and ceasefire situations in Afghanistan, Burma, Indonesia, Laos, Philippines, Nepal and Sri Lanka, although government refusal of access to conflict zones has made it impossible to document the numbers involved.

In 2004, Burma was unique in the region as the only country where government armed forces forcibly recruit and use children between the ages of 12 and 16.

Jean Duceppe also helped found the New Democratic Party branch in Quebec, which later separated from the federal NDP and merged into the Union des forces progressistes ( UFP ), which gathered 1. 0 % of the vote during the 2004 election ).

With the major reform of its Armed Forces in 2004, the Swiss Army abandoned the old regimental system and adopted a combat team approach centred on battalions as the building blocks of mission-oriented task forces.

In response to political forces in Germany, in 2004 the Verein für Deutsche Schäferhunde ( SV ) and the Deutscher Hundesportverein ( DHV ) made substantial changes to Schutzhund.

In 2004, a visit to Bangalore, India, and Dalian, China, gave Friedman new insights into the continuing trends of globalization and the forces behind the process, leading him to write a follow-up analysis, The World Is Flat.