The German government was a strong supporter of the enlargement of NATO.

In 1997, Poland was invited in the first wave of NATO policy enlargement at the July 1997 NATO Summit in Madrid, Spain.

Slovenia remains firmly committed to achieving NATO membership in a second round of enlargement.

* Brzezinski: NATO enlargement is central to secure Euro-Atlantic alliance, United States Information Service, October 10, 1997.

From 1993 to 1995, Mr. Ischinger was Director of the Policy Planning Staff ; from 1995 to 1998, as Director General for Political Affairs ( Political Director ), Mr. Ischinger participated in a number of international negotiating processes, including the Bosnia Peace Talks at Dayton, OH, the negotiations concerning the NATO-Russia Founding Act, as well as the negotiations on EU and NATO enlargement and on the Kosovo crisis.

In the spring and summer of 1997, the National Security Council became occupied with such issues as the ratification of the Chemical Weapons Treaty, NATO enlargement, the Middle East peace process, the U. S .- Russian Summit at Helsinki, and the Denver Economic Summit.

While in Germany, Holbrooke also was a key figure in shaping the U. S. policy to promote NATO enlargement, as well as its approach to the war in Bosnia.

He described NATO enlargement as a " strategic blunder of potentially epic proportions.

* Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov announces that Russia is considering withdrawing from the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, a cornerstones of European security, citing the enlargement of NATO and the end of the Cold War.

His interests focus around European Union and NATO enlargement, constitutional change and rural development.

The nadir had now been reached, and, along with NATO enlargement and the Croatian offensive in 1995 that opened the way for NATO bombing, the strengthening Clinton-Major relationship was later credited as one of three developments that saved the Western alliance.

* William Wallace, “ Opening the Door: the enlargement of NATO and the European Union ” ( London: Centre for European Reform, 1996 )

During his time at the Defence Ministry Rühe played a central role in placing NATO enlargement on the German political agenda.

" Further, Talbott has noted that his meetings with Mamedov advanced US objectives, such as getting Russia to accept NATO enlargement and help end the Kosovo conflict.

Fifthly, the document demands a " removal " of the flank ( i. e. North Caucasian ) ceilings on Russian forces by a " political decision " between NATO and Russia, ostensibly to " compensate " Russia for the alliance's enlargement.

During his tenure, decisions were reached in Luxembourg including NATO expansion, European Union enlargement and Economic and Monetary Union.

NATO enlargement to include Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic was deemed a worthwhile.

Moskal and representatives of the Czech and the Hungarians ethnic groups called on the US to support NATO enlargement.

As elections were close and the votes of these ethnic groups could decide if Clinton would be elected to a second term, their argument was persuasive, and Clinton expressed his support for NATO enlargement.

This in itself did not make NATO enlargement a reality.

In the case of Portugal, which a few weeks ago was rumored ready to walk out of the NATO Council should critics of its Angola policy prove harsh, there has been a noticeable relaxation of tension.

Canada alone has been somewhat out of step with the Oslo attempt to get all the allied cars back on the track behind the NATO locomotive.

These interventions were meant to put an end to democratic liberalization efforts and uprisings that had the potential to compromise Soviet hegemony inside the Eastern bloc, which was considered by the Soviets to be an essential defensive and strategic buffer in case hostilities with NATO were to break out.

** NATO HQ – Skopjie, from 2002 ( Macedonia ) – 1 out of 12 officers from 7 countries

** NATO HQ – Sarajevo, from 2004 ( Bosnia and Herzegovina ) – 20 out of 81 officers from 16 countries

** NATO Training Mission – Iraq, from 2004 ( Iraq ) – 82 out of 169 soldiers from 15 countries

Air space is patrolled by jet fighters from other NATO members, which are based out of the city Šiauliai ( Zokniai Airport, known as the Aviation base ) ( see Baltic Air Policing ).

* 1949 – A riot breaks out in Austurvöllur square in Reykjavík, when Iceland joins NATO.

During autumn 1999, following the Kosovo War and the NATO bombing campaign, Đukanović ( who by now firmly held power in Montenegro as Bulatović was completely squeezed out ) drafted a document called Platforma za redefiniciju odnosa Crne Gore i Srbije ( A platform for redefinition of relations within the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia ) calling for major changes in the division of governing responsibilities within FR Yugoslavia though still officially seeing Montenegro within a joint state with Serbia.

After the return of democracy following the death of General Franco in 1975, Spain's foreign policy priorities were to break out of the diplomatic isolation of the Franco years and expand diplomatic relations, enter the European Community, and define security relations with NATO, later joining the organisation in 1982.

The US and NATO allies initially attempt to stay out of the war, but are quickly drawn into the European conflict.

The campaigns were launched by the United States, with support from NATO and other allies, following the September 11, 2001 attacks that were carried out by al-Qaeda.

** French President Charles De Gaulle states that French troops will be taken out of NATO and that all French NATO bases and HQ's must be closed within a year.

* Exercise Grand Slam, a major NATO naval exercise carried out in the Mediterranean in the 1950s

Apart from this, the country tried to stay out of alliances and remain officially neutral during the entire Cold War ; it never joined NATO.

Seeing that the situation was getting out of control, NATO allowed the VJ to reclaim the demilitarized zone on May 24, 2001, and at the same time giving the UCPMB the opportunity to turn themselves over to Kosovo Force ( KFOR ), which promised to just take their weapons and note their names before releasing them.

When asked about the possibility of conducting an air-strike on the historic site, NATO refused to rule out the possibility of such an action saying that it had not been able to confirm the rebels ' report that weapons were being hidden at the location.

He later came out in support of the 1999 NATO bombing of Serbia during the Kosovo war.

Although this is not explicitly spelled out in the Basic Law, a number of Constitutional Court cases in the 1990s established that the military may not be deployed by the government outside of NATO territory without a specific resolution of parliament, which describes the details of the mission and limits its term.

The Soviet Union sought early to use reunification as a way to push Germany out of NATO into neutrality, removing nuclear weapons from its territory.

To limit the spread of violence in Bosnia, the United States had committed air power under NATO to stop bombardment of Bosnian cities, provide air support for UN troops, and carry out humanitarian missions.

C. J., being briefed by Sam on a number of countries she has to mention as possible new candidates for NATO membership, wonders why Freedonia's being left out of the mix.

On 6 February 1994, a day after the first Markale marketplace massacre, UN Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali formally requested NATO to confirm that air strikes would be carried out immediately.