Partnership for Peace

The Partnership for Peace (PfP) is a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) program aimed at creating trust between NATO and other states in Europe and the former Soviet Union; 20 states are members.[1] It was first discussed by the Bulgarian Society Novae, after being proposed as an American initiative at the meeting of NATO defense ministers in Travemünde, Germany, on October 20–21, 1993, and formally launched on January 10–11, 1994 at the NATO summit in Brussels, Belgium.[2] According to declassified U.S. State Department records,[3] President Bill Clinton characterized the Partnership for Peace as a "track that will lead to NATO membership" and that "does not draw another line dividing Europe a few hundred miles to the east."[4]

Partnership for Peace stamp from Moldova

Activities

NATO builds relationships with partners through military-to-military cooperation on training, exercises, disaster planning and response, science and environmental issues, professionalization, policy planning, and relations with civilian government.[5]

Membership

European NATO members (1994)   present NATO members which were formerly PfP members

Partnership for Peace members   States which aspire to PfP membership

Current members

Former republics of the Soviet Union

•  Armenia (October 5, 1994)[6]
•  Azerbaijan (May 4, 1994)[6]
•  Belarus (January 11, 1995)[6]
•  Georgia (March 23, 1994)[6]
•  Kazakhstan (May 27, 1994)[6]
•  Kyrgyzstan (June 1, 1994)[6]
•  Moldova (March 16, 1994)[6]
•  Russia (June 22, 1994)[6]
•  Tajikistan (February 20, 2002)[6]
•  Turkmenistan (May 10, 1994)[6]
•  Ukraine (February 8, 1994)[6]
•  Uzbekistan (July 13, 1994)[6]

Former republics of Yugoslavia

•  Bosnia and Herzegovina (December 14, 2006)[6]
•  Serbia (December 14, 2006)[6]

European Union members

•  Austria (February 10, 1995)[6]
•  Finland (May 9, 1994)[6]
•  Ireland (December 1, 1999)[6]
•  Malta (joined April 26, 1995;[6][7] withdrew on October 27, 1996;[8] reactivated its membership on March 20, 2008;[9] this was accepted by NATO on April 3, 2008.[10])
•  Sweden (May 9, 1994)[6]

European Free Trade Association member

•   Switzerland (December 11, 1996)[6]

Membership history

Fourteen former member states of the PfP (namely Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia), have subsequently joined NATO. On April 26, 1995 Malta became a member of PfP;[7] it left on October 27, 1996 in order to maintain its neutrality.[8] On March 20, 2008 Malta decided to reactivate their PfP membership;[9] this was accepted by NATO at the summit in Bucharest on April 3, 2008.[10] During the NATO summit in Riga on November 29, 2006, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia were invited to join PfP,[11] which they did[6] on December 14, 2006.[12]

Aspiring members

•  Cyprus is the only European Union member state that is neither a NATO member state nor a member of the PfP program.[13] The Parliament of Cyprus adopted a resolution in February 2011 that Cyprus should seek membership in the program, but the then President of Cyprus Demetris Christofias did not act on it, saying it would hamper his attempts to negotiate an end to the nation's dispute with Northern Cyprus (only recognized by Turkey) and demilitarize the island.[14][15] Turkey, a full member of NATO, is likely to veto any attempt by Cyprus to engage with NATO until the dispute is resolved.[16] Christofias' successor, Nicos Anastasiades, has publicly supported PfP membership for Cyprus,[17] though the current foreign minister Nicos Christodoulides has dismissed Cypriot membership of NATO or Partnership for Peace, preferring to keep Cyprus’ foreign and defence affairs within the framework of the European Union.[18]
•  Kosovo[lower-alpha 1] has described PfP membership as a tactical and strategic objective of the government.[19] Kosovo submitted an application to join the PfP program in July 2012. However, four NATO member states, Greece, Romania, Spain and Slovakia, do not recognize Kosovo's independence and have threatened to block their participation in the program.[20][21] To be eligible to join, the Kosovan Armed Forces must be established.[22]

Former members

Countries that became full NATO members on March 12, 1999

•  Czech Republic (March 10, 1994)[6]
•  Hungary (February 8, 1994)[6]
•  Poland (February 2, 1994)[6]

Countries that became full NATO members on March 29, 2004

•  Bulgaria (February 14, 1994)[6]
•  Estonia (February 3, 1994)[6]
•  Latvia (February 14, 1994)[6]
•  Lithuania (January 27, 1994)[6]
•  Romania (January 26, 1994)[6]
•  Slovakia (February 9, 1994)[6]
•  Slovenia (March 30, 1994)[6]

Countries that became full NATO members on April 1, 2009

•  Albania (February 23, 1994)[6]
•  Croatia (May 25, 2000)[6]

Country that became full NATO member on June 5, 2017

•  Montenegro (December 14, 2006)[6]

Country that became full NATO member on March 27, 2020

•  North Macedonia (November 15, 1995)[6]

See also

• Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council
• Individual Partnership Action Plan
• Foreign relations of NATO
• Partnership for Peace Information Management System

References

1. Kosovo is the subject of a territorial dispute between the Republic of Kosovo and the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence on 17 February 2008, but Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory. The two governments began to normalise relations in 2013, as part of the 2013 Brussels Agreement. Kosovo is currently recognized as an independent state by 97 out of the 193 United Nations member states. In total, 112 UN member states recognized Kosovo at some point, of which 15 later withdrew their recognition.

1. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (December 3, 2009). "Partner countries". Retrieved December 23, 2009.
2. Borawski, John (April 1995). "Partnership for Peace and beyond". International Affairs. Royal Institute of International Affairs 1944–. 71 (2): 233–246. JSTOR 2623432.
3. https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu//dc.html?doc=4390825-Document-11-The-President-s-Meeting-with-Czech
4. Savranskaya, Svetlana; Blanton, Tom. "NATO Expansion: What Yeltsin Heard". National Security Archive. Retrieved April 6, 2019.
5. http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natolive/topics_50349.htm
6. "Signatures of Partnership for Peace Framework Document". North Atlantic Treaty Organization. October 5, 2006. Retrieved November 30, 2006.
7. North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (April 26, 1995). "Secretary General's Council Welcoming Remarks, Visit by Maltese Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor Guido de Marco, Wednesday, April 26, 1995". Retrieved November 30, 2006.
8. Bohlen, Celestine (November 12, 1996). "New Malta Chief Focuses on Neutrality". New York Times. Retrieved April 5, 2008. Within hours of taking office, Mr. Sant withdrew Malta's membership in Partnership for Peace, a NATO military cooperation program that is so loosely defined that its sign-up list now spans the spectrum from Russia to Switzerland. [...] Mr. Sant says none of those moves should be interpreted as anti-European or anti-American, but simply as the best way of insuring Malta's security.
9. Gambin, Karl (April 3, 2008). "Malta reactivates Partnership for Peace membership". DI-VE. Retrieved April 3, 2008. The cabinet has agreed to reactivate its membership in the Partnership for Peace which was withdrawn in 1996, the government said on Thursday.
10. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (April 3, 2008). "Malta re-engages in the Partnership for Peace Programme". Retrieved April 3, 2008. At the Bucharest Summit, NATO Heads of State and Government welcomed Malta’s return to the Partnership for Peace Programme. At Malta's request, the Allies have re-activated Malta's participation in the Partnership for Peace Programme (PfP).
11. North Atlantic Treaty Organization (November 29, 2006). "Alliance offers partnership to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia". Retrieved November 30, 2006.
12. Associated Press (December 14, 2006). "Serbia inducted into NATO". Retrieved December 14, 2006.
13. Wilson, Damon (April 1, 2019). "NATO membership for Cyprus. Yes, Cyprus". Atlantic Council. Retrieved January 1, 2020.
14. "Cypriot parliament votes to join NATO's Partnership for Peace". SETimes. February 25, 2011. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
15. "Cyprus – Vouli Antiprosopon (House of Representatives)". Inter-Parliamentary Union. Retrieved February 24, 2013.
16. Dempsey, Judy (November 24, 2012). "Between the European Union and NATO, Many Walls". New York Times. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
17. Kambas, Michele; Babington, Deepa (February 24, 2013). "Cypriot conservative romps to presidential victory". Reuters. Retrieved February 24, 2013.
18. "Cyprus dismisses reports on NATO scenarios". KNEWS - Kathimerini Cyprus. June 5, 2018. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
19. "Hoxhaj në Lituani, merr përkrahje për MSA-në dhe vizat (Video)". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo. April 3, 2014. Retrieved April 3, 2014.
20. "Kosovo seeks to join international organisations". Turkish Weekly. July 19, 2012. Archived from the original on July 25, 2012. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
21. "Kosovo looking to join the Adriatic Charter". January 21, 2013. Retrieved November 11, 2013.
22. Thaçi, Hashim. "Prioritetet e reja të Politikës së Jashtme të Kosovës". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kosovo.

External links

• The Partnership for Peace programme
• Partnership for Peace Information Management System (PIMS)
• Building a Partnership for Peace