NATO Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council/Partnership for Peace
Fact Sheet prepared by the Bureau of European and Canadian Affairs,
December 10, 1997
What Is PfP?
- A U.S. initiative, Partnership for Peace (PfP) was launched
by the January 1994 NATO summit to establish strong links between
NATO, its new democratic partners in the former Soviet bloc, and
some of Europe's traditionally neutral countries to enhance European
security.
- It provides a framework for enhanced political and military
cooperation for joint multilateral activities, such as humanitarian
assistance, peacekeeping, and crisis management and enables Partners
to improve their interoperability with NATO.
- It enables PfP members to consult with NATO when faced with
a direct threat to its security but does not extend NATO security
guarantees. Participation in PfP does not guarantee entry into
NATO, but it is the best preparation for states interested in
becoming NATO members.
- PfP's utility has been demonstrated by the success of the
NATO peacekeeping operations in Bosnia (IFOR and SFOR), in which
15 PfP Partners have worked side by side with NATO Allies.
Who Has Joined
- 27 countries: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus,
Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, The Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia,
Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
What is the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC)?
The EAPC is the mechanism by which NATO allies and their partners
can jointly confront future challenges to European security. It
complements the work of the Organization for Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE), NATO, the European Union, and the Council of
Europe in building a Euro-Atlantic community of stable, democratic
and market-oriented societies from Vancouver to Vladivostok. It
is the overarching political framework for NATO's cooperative
relations, consultations and joint action with its partners including
NATO allies, the nations of Central and Eastern Europe, former
neutral or non-aligned nations, the Baltics, and the former Soviet
Union. It was inaugurated May 30, 1997 in Sintra, Portugal, and
formally replaces the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC)
within the Alliance structure.
What is the EAPC Doing?
Significant progress has been achieved on a wide range of EAPC
initiatives including a 1998-2000 workplan; cooperative activities
in southeastern Europe and the Transcaucasus; joint efforts to
combat proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; establishing
PfP Staff Elements at selected NATO headquarters; developing a
political-military framework for NATO-led PfP operations; and
the broadening of the PfP Defense Planning and Review Process.
These initiatives are aimed at increasing Partner involvement
in planning and executing PfP activities and exercises.
How Does PfP Work?
- Once a country has joined the PfP, it submits a Presentation
Document to NATO explaining what resources it will contribute
to PfP activities and the steps that it will take to meet PfP
political goals, such as democratic control of the military. To
date, all PfP countries except Switzerland have submitted Presentation
Documents.
- A unique Individual Partnership Program (IPP), is then agreed
to with the alliance. IPPs set forth shared objectives (for instance,
establishing democratic control over military forces; developing
transparency in defense planning and budgetary processes; developing
interoperability with NATO forces), and list activities planned
to meet those objectives.
- NATO has reached agreement on IPPs with all PfP Partners except
Switzerland and Uzbekistan. Many Partners have submitted revised
IPPs.
- The decision was taken in June 1997 at Sintra Ministerial
to enhance PfP by strengthening the political consultation element,
increasing the role Partners play in decision-making and planning,
and by making PfP more operational.
- Partners can assign personnel on a full-time basis to NATO
Headquarters in Brussels and to the Partnership Coordination Cell
(PCC) at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in
Mons, Belgium. Legislation enabling Partners to accredit ambassadors
to NATO was approved in 1997.
- The December 1997 Defense Ministerial endorsed the establishment
of PfP Staff Elements at the strategic and regional levels of
NATO's military command structure and have mandated a report for
May 1998 at the sub-regional level.
- Partners may participate in an optional Defense Planning and
Review Process (PARP) designed to evaluate and enhance a partner
nation's interoperability with NATO. Participating states work
with NATO to develop interoperability objectives and Partnership
goals, which can be used to help refine IPPs. As of December 1997,
18 partners--Albania, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Czech Republic,
Estonia, Finland, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Hungary,
Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia,
Sweden, and Ukraine--are participating in PARP.
PfP Joint Military Exercises
- 1994. Three joint military exercises were held, including
"Cooperative Bridge" in Poland marking the first time
NATO forces had joined with former adversaries on the territory
of a former Warsaw Pact state.
- 1995. Ten major field, maritime, search and rescue,
and command post exercises were held.
- 1996. More than 14 major PfP exercises in the areas
of search and rescue, humanitarian assistance, and peacekeeping
were held. Numerous seminars, workshops, and bilateral "in
the spirit of PfP" exercises also were held.
- 1997. More than 24 major and "in the spirit of
PfP" exercises were conducted, in 16 of which the U.S. played
a significant role. NATO is considering expanding the scope of
PfP activities to include peace enforcement and Partner participation
in the new Combined Joint Task Force concept.
[end of document]
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