THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
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For Immediate Release
May 21, 1998
FACT SHEET
NATO ENLARGEMENT
In a Rose Garden Ceremony at the White House today, President Clinton will
sign the instruments of ratification for enlargement of the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization (NATO). In so doing, the President will officially
grant U.S. approval for admitting Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic to
the NATO alliance.
Today?s ceremony fulfills the President?s vision of building a peaceful,
undivided Europe for the first time in history. The President first
proposed the concept of enlarging the NATO alliance to admit the former
satellite states of the former Soviet Union in 1994. Since then, the
President has worked closely with our European allies and both parties in
Congress to achieve this goal. The Senate voted 80-19 on April 30, in a
bipartisan demonstration of support, for a strong American role in the
future of European security.
In President Clinton?s speech in Brussels on January 9, 1994, during
his first trip to Europe as President, he articulated a vision of the
U.S. and our European allies working together to ensure that the
entire continent enjoys the benefits of democracy, prosperity and
security. Integral to this vision was the President?s Partnership for
Peace, which ?will advance a process of evolution for NATO?s formal
enlargement...[and] looks to the day when NATO will take on new
members who assume the Alliance?s full responsibilities.?
On July 7, 1994, the President addressed the Polish parliament and
affirmed his intent to pursue NATO?s enlargement, calling on the
Alliance to begin concrete steps towards accepting new members.
In his letter to Congress on August 17, 1995, President Clinton
reported on the success of the Partnership for Peace in ?forging new
cooperative ties between the Alliance and its partners?, and noted
that for ?those Partners interested in joining NATO, PFP will be the
path to membership.?
The President reaffirmed his support for enlargement of the Alliance
during a major foreign policy address in Detroit, Michigan on October
22, 1996, when he called for the completion of ratification by the end
of 1998 so that the first new members could be welcomed into the
Alliance by the 50th anniversary summit in 1999.
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Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott and Senate Minority Leader Tom
Daschle announced the creation of the Senate NATO Observer Group on
April 22, 1997. This group, composed of 28 Senators from both
parties, was charged with working with the Administration to examine
NATO enlargement. The Administration held over a dozen briefings for
the group over the next nine months.
On May 27, 1997, President Clinton and other NATO leaders joined
President Boris Yeltsin of Russia in signing the ?Founding Act on
Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security Between the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization and the Russian Federation.? The President
devoted his commencement address at the U.S. Military Academy at West
Point, New York to the issue of enlargement later that month.
At a summit held in Madrid, Spain on July 8 and 9, 1997, President
Clinton and his NATO counterparts extended invitations to Poland,
Hungary and the Czech Republic to begin accession talks with the
Alliance. The President invited a bipartisan Congressional delegation
to participate in the summit. On July 9, President Clinton, the other
NATO leaders, NATO Secretary General Solana and Ukrainian President
Leonid Kuchma signed a ?Charter on a Distinctive NATO-Ukraine
Partnership.?
On December 16, 1997, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and her
NATO counterparts signed the three protocols of accession for Poland,
Hungary and the Czech Republic, making them full members of the
Alliance, subject to ratification by all current and incoming NATO
member states. President Clinton transmitted the protocols to the
Senate for its advice and consent on February 11, 1998.
On February 24, 1998, Secretary of State Albright, Secretary of
Defense Cohen, and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General
Shelton appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for the
final hearing on NATO enlargement. Four Senate Committees held twelve
such hearings beginning in April 1997.
The Senate provided its advice and consent on April 30, 1998,
signaling its overwhelming, bipartisan support for the admission of
Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic into NATO in a 80-19 vote.
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