For several years after independence in 1964, Malta followed a policy of close co-operation with the United Kingdom and other NATO countries.

After substantially increased financial contributions from several NATO countries ( including the United States ), British forces remained in Malta until 1979.

In the meanwhile, after the 1948 Red Flag incident, in 1949 Malta signs the North Atlantic Treaty and joins NATO.

The following year, Malta enters into a Military Base Agreement with the United Kingdom and other NATO countries.

On March 20, 2008 Malta decided to reactivate their PfP membership ; this was accepted by NATO at the Summit in Bucharest on April 3, 2008.

With air support from NATO which entered the conflict on the rebels ' side on March 19, and a vital sea based life line from neighbouring country the Island of Malta., anti-Gaddafi forces managed to force loyalist troops to retreat on April 21, gaining control of most of the city by mid-May.

When there was no room for expansion at Malta, the U. S. Navy obtained NATO backing to be hosted by Sicilians.

And of course the Soviet threat was responsible for NATO, the grand alliance of the Atlantic nations.

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.

He was assassinated, probably at the instigation of al-Qaeda, in a suicide bombing on September 9, 2001, just two days before the September 11 attacks that finally caused the US and NATO to intervene in Afghanistan, allying themselves with Massoud's forces.

General Wesley Clark was Supreme Allied Commander of NATO and oversaw the mission.

Some people even believe that this was the biblical event of Noah's flood, but despite their historical significance, the first spectacular images of these submarine channels were obtained in 1999 ( Di Iorio, et al., 1999 ) in the frame of a NATO SACLANT Undersea Research project using jointly the NATO RV Alliance, and the Turkish Navy survey ship Çubuklu.

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.

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.

The alternative majority in these issues was because the Social liberal Party ( Radikale Venstre ) supported the governing majority in economic policy issues, but was against certain NATO policies and voted with the left in these issues.

The Columbia trustees refused to accept his resignation in December 1950, when he took leave from the university to become the Supreme Commander of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization ( NATO ), and was given operational command of NATO forces in Europe.

At home, Eisenhower was more effective in making the case for NATO in Congress than the Truman administration ; by the middle of 1951, American and European support for NATO was substantial enough to give it a genuine military force.

During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east.

In the eighties the most immediate method available to NATO to counter Soviet advances in armour technology was the adoption of a 140 mm main gun.

As the term was used in Germany and other NATO countries, it referred to the decision of a country to not challenge a more powerful neighbor in foreign politics while maintaining national sovereignty.

The theory of bandwagoning provided support for the idea that if the U. S. was not able to provide strong and credible support for the anti-communist positions of its allies, NATO and the U. S .- Japan alliance could collapse.

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

In the United States, the assault rifle design was later in coming ; the replacement for the M1 Garand of WWII was another John Garand design chambered for the new 7. 62 × 51mm NATO cartridge ; the select-fire M14, which was used by the U. S. military until the 1960s.

On November 27 it was announced that a NATO membership referendum and election date referendum will also be held on the election day together with presidential elections.

Immediately preceding the NATO bombing campaign of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in spring 1999, the U. S. and most European countries severed relations with Yugoslavia, and the U. S. embassy was closed.

** 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.

There was some confusion surrounding compliance with the ultimatum, and Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Boross announced that his country's air space would be closed to NATO aircraft in the event of airstrikes.

With the end of the Cold War, Burtonwood Army Depot was declared excess to NATO requirements and was closed in June 1994.

During 1966-67 all USAF offices and facilities in France were closed and personnel and equipment moved to other NATO countries.

There was some confusion surrounding compliance with the ultimatum, and Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Boross announced that Hungarian air space would be closed to NATO aircraft in the event of airstrikes.

If a broader Atlantic community is to be formed -- and my own judgment is that it lies within the realm of both our needs and our capacity -- a ready nucleus of machinery is at hand in the NATO alliance.

But where the core of NATO is concerned, the Secretary of State has not only reiterated the United States' profound attachment to the alliance, `` cornerstone '' of its foreign policy, but has announced that five nuclear submarines will eventually be at NATO's disposal in European waters.

Each plate is rated to stop a range of ammunition including 3 hits from a 7. 62 × 51 NATO AP round at a range of, though accounts in Iraq and Afghanistan tell of soldiers shot as many as seven times in the chest without penetration.

U-2 spyplanes found S-75 Dvina ( NATO designation SA-2 ) surface-to-air missile sites at eight different locations.

Its primary tasks are ; NATO participation in accordance with the strategy of the alliance, detect and repel any sovereignty violation of Danish territory ( including Greenland and the Faroe Islands ), defence cooperation with non-NATO members, especially Central and East European countries, international missions in the area of conflict prevention, crises-control, humanitarian, peacemaking, peacekeeping, participate in Total Defence in cooperation with civilian resources and finally maintain a sizable force to execute these tasks at all times.

NATO did not initially have strong bipartisan support in Congress at the time he assumed his command ; Eisenhower unhesitatingly advised the participating European nations that it would be incumbent upon them to demonstrate their own commitment of troops and equipment to the NATO force before it would come from a war weary United States.

Henry Cabot Lodge who served as his campaign manager and others succeeded in convincing him, and in June 1952 he resigned his command at NATO to campaign full-time.

He promised to maintain a strong commitment against Communism while avoiding the topic of NATO ; finally, he stressed a corruption-free, frugal administration at home.

* CNN – NATO air attack shifts, aims at violence inside Kosovo – 27 March 1999

Among the important political issues at the time was the deployment of Pershing II IRBMs and nuclear-tipped cruise missiles by the U. S. and NATO on West German soil, generating strong opposition in the general population that found an outlet in mass demonstrations.

According to a 2005 poll, most of Finns at that point were reluctant to join NATO.

Under long-standing bilateral agreements flowing from NATO membership, Italy hosts important U. S. military forces at Vicenza – home of 173d Airborne Brigade – and Livorno ( USA ); Aviano ( USAF ); and Sigonella, Nisida, and Gaeta – home port for the U. S. Navy Sixth Fleet.

Italy hosts the NATO Defence College at Cecchignola, near Rome.

Signing the NATO treaty in Paris, 1954 ( Adenauer at the left )

NATO also uses the Kabul Airport, but most military traffic is based at Bagram Airfield, situated north of Kabul.

In 1961, the 1st Artillery Battalion was placed at NATO ’ s disposal.

* Promotion of the Republic of Macedonia as a NATO candidate country, active participation within the established institutional framework – Partnership for Peace, EAPC, implementation of the NATO Membership Action Plan – aiming at creating conditions for receiving membership invitation at the 2008 NATO Summit.

Strengthening the mutual trust and, at the same time, a complementary factor on the way of the Republic of Macedonia to the EU and NATO.