Focus series on the 7 countries invited to join NATO: Bulgaria Estonia Latvia Lithuania Romania Slovakia Slovenia

Slovakia News 29/03/2004 - NATO Seven new members join NATO 18-19/03/2004 - NATO Secretary General visits Czech Republic and Slovakia 02/03/2004 - NATO Seven invitees on the verge of NATO membership 11/02/2004 - NATO One step closer to an enlarged NATO 26/03/2003 - NATO Accession protocols signed 10/03/2003 - NATO Lord Robertson continues visits to invitee countries Biographies Senior Partner Government Officials NATO Invitee Ministers of Foreign Affairs NATO Invitee Chiefs of Staff NATO Invitee Ministers of Defence Permanent representative to NATO for Slovakia Multimedia 16/01/2004 Video interview with Ambassador Igor Slobodník, Head of the Mission of the Slovak Republic to NATO Photogallery of Slovakia Anthem of Slovakia Background November 2002 - NATO The Road to NATO membership Slovakia became a NATO partner country in 1993. At the November 2002 Prague Summit, along with six other countries it was invited to join the Alliance. Slovakia in NATO On 1 January 1993, Slovakia became an independent state after the split of Czech and Slovak Federal Republic into two sovereign states. That same year, the first official contacts between Slovakia and NATO were initiated. More... Looking to NATO membership "When the dozen founding fathers of this Alliance signed the North Atlantic Treaty, their primary concern was security. That concern is still valid today, even though a lot has changed in security environment since 1949, or even since 1989. The world is not as stable and predictable as we might wish it to be, therefore, the idea of ensuring security through a system of collective defence still remains an appealing one," said Ambassador Igor Slobodník, Head of the Mission of the Slovak Republic to NATO in a video interview for the NATO Web site. More... Shaping the visions for enlarged Europe How to preserve the momentum of the NATO enlargement after the Washington Summit in 1999? Slovak Prime Minister proposed a conference in Bratislava in 2001 to discuss further steps in accomplishing the project of Europe free and whole. More... Hearing the voice of civil society „Discussion with every single person in the street is important and can make the difference,“ said Mr. Michal Dobiáš whose Association of Youth Informational and Consultation Centres carried out several grant projects under the governmental information strategy aimed at increasing public awareness of NATO and security related issues. More... Slovakia´s engagement for the peace in the world Slovakia is a netto contributor to peace and security in Europe and in the world. From the very first day of its independence on January 1, 1993, Slovak soldiers served in international peacekeeping operations under a UN mandate such as the Observation Mission in Somalia and UN Protection Force in the Balkans. When the first NATO and EU crisis management operations were deployed in 1990s, Slovakia was ready to act as their de facto member and a reliably ally. More... Slovakia at a glance Name in Slovak: Slovensko, Slovenská republika Capital: Bratislava Population: 5 403 000 (in 2000) More...