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1. NATO from 1949 to the present day

Jens Stoltenberg

The strength of NATO is that despite our differences, we have always been able to unite around our core task. (…) We have overcome our disagreements in the past and we must overcome our differences now, because we will need our Alliance even more in the future.
We face unprecedented challenges, challenges no one nation can face alone.

Jens Stoltenberg

NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL

Membership
and historical
landmarks

1945
1946
1947
1948

Signing of the Washington Treaty to create the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Article 5 states: “The parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all...”

1949
1950
1951

Greece and Turkey join NATO

1952
1953
1954

The Federal Republic of Germany joins NATO

Warsaw Pact established

1955

Suez Crisis and Hungarian Revolution

The North Atlantic Council approves the report of the “Three Wise Men” (Halvard Lange; Gaetano Martino; Lester B. Pearson)

1956
1957
1958
1959
1960

Berlin Wall built

1961

Cuban missile crisis

1962
1963
1964
1965

France withdraws from NATO’s integrated military command

1966

NATO opens its new headquarters in Brussels

1967

Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia by five Warsaw Pact countries

1968

Apollo 11 lands; first man sets foot on the moon

1969

1970s-1980s

NATO prepares and exercises to deter potential aggression throughout the Cold War

1970
1971
1972

First Oil Crisis triggers global recession

1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978

Second Oil Crisis

1979

Start of Iran-Iraq War

1980
1981

Spain joins NATO

1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988

Revolutions spread across Central and Eastern Europe: Berlin Wall falls.

Soviet Union withdraws from Afghanistan

1989

Germany reunified

1990

Soviet Union dissolves: Warsaw Pact disbanded

NATO and countries of Central and Eastern Europe enter into an era of cooperation

1991
1992

NATO launches no fly zone over Bosnia and Herzegovina

1993

NATO establishes Partnership for Peace programme and the Mediterranean Dialogue

1994

Allies and partners send peacekeeping forces to Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia Accords signed in Dayton, Ohio

1995
1996

Founding Act between NATO and Russia is signed

1997
1998

Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO

NATO launches Operation Allied Force to halt the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Kosovo

1999

First formal meetings between the North Atlantic Council and the European Union’s interim Political and Security Committee

2000

9/11 terrorist attacks in the United States, Article 5 invoked for the first time in NATO’s history

NATO deploys Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) to mainland US

NATO launches Article 5 Operation Active Endeavour in support of the United States

2001

NATO-Russia Council created

2002

NATO takes command of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, in what is its first deployment outside Europe or North America

Start of Iraq War

Terrorist attacks in Istanbul

2003

Terrorist attacks in Madrid

NATO expands to 26 members when former communist states Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia join, five years after the entry of Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.

NATO offers to cooperate with countries from the broader Middle East region within the Istanbul Cooperative Initiative

NATO-led mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina completed

Start of NATO Training Mission in Iraq

2004

Terrorist attacks in London

2005
2006
2007

Georgia-Russia conflict erupts

2008

Counter-piracy Operation Ocean Shield begins off the Horn of Africa and in the Gulf of Aden

France returns to NATO’s integrated military command at the Strasbourg-Kehl Summit

Albania and Croatia join NATO

2009

NATO adopts a new Strategic Concept

Signing of the Declaration on Enduring Partnership by the President of Afghanistan and the NATO Secretary General

2010

Afghan forces start taking charge of their country’s security

Arab Spring

NATO launches and completes Operation Unified Protector for Libya

2011

Deployment of Patriot batteries to augment Turkey’s air defences as violence continues in Syria

World continues to grapple with fiscal austerity

Signing of the Joint Political Declaration between Australia and NATO

2012

NATO continues to enhance capabilities to face emerging security challenges while enhancing global partnerships

Maidan upraising in Ukraine

2013

Russia illegally annexes Crimea

Readiness Action Plan adopted at Wales Summit to counter new threats and challenges. This is the most significant reinforcement of NATO's collective defence since the end of the Cold War

Islamic State establishes its Caliphate in Syria and Iraq terrorising local population

2014

The Resolute Support mission succeeds ISAF in Afghanistan

Terrorist attacks in Paris, Copenhagen, and Ankara

Migration crisis in Europe

2015

Launch of operation Sea Guardian and end of Operation Active Endeavour and Operation Ocean Shield

Cyber Space recognised as an operational domain alongside air, sea and land

The United Kingdom votes for Brexit

Terrorist attacks continue across Europe and North America

Allied leaders welcome the implementation of the The Readiness Action Plan (RAP) and introduced new work on NATO’s deterrence and defence posture

2016

NATO enhances its forward presence in Central and Eastern Europe

NATO inaugurates its new headquarters in Brussels

Montenegro becomes NATO’s 29th member

2017

Global Coalition and Iraqi forces win back territory from the Islamic State

2018
2019

North Macedonia becomes NATO’s 30th member

2020

Aspiring
Countries

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnia and Herzegovina aspires to join NATO. Support for democratic, institutional, security sector and defence reforms are a key focus of cooperation. The country actively supports the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan and cooperates with the Allies and other partners in many other areas. Bosnia and Herzegovina was invited to join the Membership Action Plan (MAP) in 2010, on which implementation NATO Member Countries voted favourably in 2018. Participation in the MAP does not prejudge any decision on future membership.
Bosnia and Herzegovina needs to continue pursuing democratic and defence reforms to fulfil its NATO and EU aspirations and to become a well-functioning independent democratic state.
More on Bosnia and Herzegovina

Georgia

Georgia is one of the Alliance’s closest partners. It actively contributes to NATO-led operations and cooperates with the Allies and other partner countries in many other areas. Over time, a broad range of practical cooperation has developed between NATO and Georgia, which supports the country’s reform efforts and its goal of Euro-Atlantic integration.
Following the Russia-Georgia crisis in August 2008, the Allies continue to support Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty within its internationally recognised borders and call on Russia to reverse its recognition of the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states.
More on Georgia

NATO governance

NATO parliamentary assembly

PARTNERSHIPS

NATO + EU