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NATO plus three...
... and then there were 19
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NATO Prepares the Ground
For Further Enlargement
NATO is reaffirming its commitment to its "open door" policy at a meeting of the new Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, designed to forge closer links with other countries outside the Atlantic alliance.
On Tuesday, NATO invited Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic to join its security pact. For the countries which have been left out, the Partnership Council is a halfway house to prepare them for eventual membership.
Council members are NATO countries and 28 states participating in the Partnership for Peace programme.
Special Partnership Deal for Ukraine
Ukraine however, signs a special co-operation agreement, called the "Charter on a Distinctive Partnership". The agreement is similar to the one NATO signed with Russia, but less comprehensive.
The Ukraine agreement creates a new NATO-Ukraine Commission to make continuing assessments of the relationship and
plan for the future. Ukrainian officials will meet at least twice a year
with the North Atlantic Council, NATO's top policy-making body.
But unlike the arrangement with Russia, the new Commission will not have its own permanent staff or secretariat and will not be involved in continuous consultation.
The new Charter describes NATO's enlargement as "directed at enhancing the stability of Europe ... without recreating dividing lines". Ukraine, the second most populous former Soviet republic after Russia, has not applied for NATO membership.
NATO's enlargement into Eastern Europe
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