1995 Study on Enlargement

It concluded that the end of the Cold War provided a unique opportunity to build improved security in the entire Euro-Atlantic area and that NATO enlargement would contribute to enhanced stability and security for all.

The Study further concluded that enlargement would contribute to enhanced stability and security for all countries in the Euro-Atlantic area by encouraging and supporting democratic reforms, including the establishment of civilian and democratic control over military forces; fostering patterns and habits of cooperation, consultation and consensus-building characteristic of relations among members of the Alliance; and promoting good-neighbourly relations.

It would increase transparency in defence planning and military budgets, thereby reinforcing confidence among states, and would reinforce the overall tendency toward closer integration and cooperation in Europe. The Study also concluded that enlargement would strengthen the Alliance’s ability to contribute to European and international security and strengthen and broaden the transatlantic partnership.

What does this mean in practice?

According to the Study, countries seeking NATO membership haveto be able to demonstrate that they have fulfilled certain requirements. These include providing evidence that they each represent a functioning democratic, political system based on a market economy; that they treat minority populations in accordance with OSCE guidelines; have worked to resolve outstanding disputes with neighbours and have made an overall commitment to the peaceful settlement of disputes; have the ability and willingness to make a military contribution to the Alliance and to achieve interoperability with other members’ forces; and are committed to democratic civil-military relations and institutional structures.

Once admitted, new members enjoy all the rights and assume all the obligations of membership, including acceptance at the time that they join of all the principles, policies and procedures previously adopted by Alliance members.

How did this policy evolve?

In January 1994 at the Brussels Summit, NATO Heads of State and Government reaffirmed that the Alliance was open to membership of other European states in a position to further the principles of the Washington Treaty and to contribute to security in the North Atlantic area. Following a decision by NATO Foreign Ministers in December 1994, the “why and how” of future admissions into the Alliance were examined by the Allies during 1995. The resulting “Study on NATO Enlargement” was shared with interested Partner countries in September 1995 and made public.

Which NATO bodies have a central role?

The study confirmed that, as in the past, any future extension of the Alliance’s membership would be through accession of new member states to the North Atlantic Treaty in accordance with Article 10, and that invitations to aspiring countries would be issued by the North Atlantic Council, NATO’s principal decision-making body.