Accession of Croatia to NATO - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The accession of Croatia to NATO took place in 2009. Croatia

Croatia

Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...

entered into NATO's Partnership for Peace

Partnership for Peace

Partnership for Peace is a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation program aimed at creating trust between NATO and other states in Europe and the former Soviet Union; 22 States are members...

in 2000, which began the process of accession into the alliance. The country received an invitation to join at the 2008 Bucharest Summit and became a full member on April 1, 2009.

History

Croatia's first relations with NATO were established in 1953. That year Yugoslavia entered into the Balkan Pact

Balkan Pact (1953)

The Balkan Pact of 1953 was a treaty signed by Greece, Turkey, and Yugoslavia on 28 February 1953. It was signed in Ankara . The treaty was to act as a dam against Soviet expansion in the Balkan area. It provided for the eventual creation of a joint military staff for the three countries...

, a loose military alliance with Greece and Turkey, then both recent NATO members.

Croatia had considered holding a referendum on NATO membership. On March 23, 2007, the Croatian president Stjepan Mesić

Stjepan Mesić

Stjepan "Stipe" Mesić is a Croatian politician and former President of Croatia. Before his ten-year presidential term between 2000 and 2010 he held the posts of Speaker of the Croatian Parliament , Prime Minister of Croatia , the last President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia , Secretary General...

, Prime Minister Ivo Sanader

Ivo Sanader

Ivo Sanader |Split]]) is a Croatian politician who served as the Prime Minister of Croatia from 2003 to 2009.Sanader obtained his education in comparative literature in Austria, where he also later worked in the 1980s. He worked as a journalist, in marketing, publishing and also as a private...

and President of parliament Vladimir Šeks

Vladimir Šeks

Vladimir Šeks is an influential Croatian politician, a member of the Croatian Democratic Union . He has been a representative in the Croatian Parliament since the nation's independence, and has held the posts of the Speaker of the Parliament as well as Deputy Prime Minister of the Government.Šeks...

declared that the Croatian constitution does not require a referendum on this issue. In 2006 the Croatian government was planning to start a media campaign to promote the benefits of membership. In February 2008 a project named Bolje pakt nego rat was formed by Transparency International

Transparency International

Transparency International is a non-governmental organization that monitors and publicizes corporate and political corruption in international development. It publishes an annual Corruption Perceptions Index, a comparative listing of corruption worldwide...

Croatia and iDEMO, and financed by the United States embassy in Croatia, in order to promote the NATO membership through public discussions about its benefits.

A May 2007 poll commissioned by the government showed that NATO membership was backed by 52% of the population, and 25% was against. On January 4, 2008, Croatian Prime minister Ivo Sanader reached a coalition agreement with partners from HSS

Croatian Peasant Party

The Croatian Peasant Party is a center and socially conservative political party in Croatia.-Austria-Hungary:The Croatian People's Peasant Party was formed on December 22, 1904 by Antun Radić along with his brother Stjepan Radić. The party contested elections for the first time in the Kingdom of...

and HSLS

Croatian Social Liberal Party

Croatian Social Liberal Party or HSLS is a conservative liberal political party in Croatia. The party is a member of Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party. Its current president is Darinko Kosor, elected to that post in November 2009.-Chronology:The HSLS was...

to form a new government. According to a provision of the said agreement Croatia's entry into NATO would not be decided on a referendum. Less than 20 days before entering NATO, Prime Minister Sanader stated: "I will forget that some people had requested a referendum. Had we started that adventure, we wouldn't have accomplished this."

Croatia has been a member of the International Security Assistance Force

International Security Assistance Force

The International Security Assistance Force is a NATO-led security mission in Afghanistan established by the United Nations Security Council on 20 December 2001 by Resolution 1386 as envisaged by the Bonn Agreement...

in Afghanistan

Afghanistan

Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...

since December 12, 2002. In 2003 Croatia joined the Adriatic Charter

Adriatic Charter

The Adriatic Charter is an association formed by Albania, Croatia, Republic of Macedonia and United States of America for the purpose of aiding their attempts to join NATO. The Charter was signed on 2 May 2003 in Tirana under the aegis of USA...

along with other NATO aspirants. In November, 2006 the State Committee for the Membership of Croatia in NATO was established, with Croatian president

President of Croatia

The President of Croatia , officially styled the President of the Republic represents the Republic of Croatia in the country and abroad as the head of state, maintains the regular and coordinated operation and stability of the national government system, and safeguards the independence and...

Stjepan Mesić

serving as committee president, and speaker Vladimir Šeks

Vladimir Šeks

and prime minister Ivo Sanader

Ivo Sanader

serving as its vice-presidents. In June, 2007 the Croatian Parliament and the NATO parliamentary Assembly held a three-day conference in Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik

Dubrovnik is a Croatian city on the Adriatic Sea coast, positioned at the terminal end of the Isthmus of Dubrovnik. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic, a seaport and the centre of Dubrovnik-Neretva county. Its total population is 42,641...

entitled "Southeast Europe: Unfinished business", to discuss security and political issues in the region. The Noble Midas 07 NATO exercise held in Croatia in October, 2007 was the first time in the alliance's history that it held a military exercise in a non-member country. Croatia hosted an unofficial meeting of defense ministers on NATO's role in southeastern Europe in March, 2009.

On January 1, 2008 Croatia abandoned military conscription and finished its transition to a fully professional army. The Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia expects that it will join the NATO-led Kosovo Force (KFOR) in 2009. With Croatia's accession to the alliance, it has become more likely that the country will leave the Non-Aligned Movement

Non-Aligned Movement

The Non-Aligned Movement is a group of states considering themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power bloc. As of 2011, the movement had 120 members and 17 observer countries...

. The Croatian minister of foreign affairs Gordan Jandroković

Gordan Jandrokovic

Gordan Jandroković is a Croatian diplomat and politician. Currently, he is the foreign minister of Croatia.Jandroković was born in Bjelovar. He graduated from the University of Zagreb Faculty of Civil Engineering in 1991, and obtained a diploma from the Faculty of Political Sciences in...

was invited to the movement's 15th Conference, held in Iran in July, 2008. Instead of a high-level delegate, the Croatian ambassador to Iran Esad Prohić served as Croatian representative.

Negotiation progress

Event	Date
Partnership for Peace Partnership for Peace Partnership for Peace is a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation program aimed at creating trust between NATO and other states in Europe and the former Soviet Union; 22 States are members...	25.5.2000
Membership Action Plan	20.5.2002
Invitation to join	3.4.2008
Accession protocol	9.7.2008
Ratification by:
Belgium Belgium Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...	29.1.2009
Bulgaria Bulgaria Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...	23.10.2008
Canada Canada Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...	14.1.2009
Czech Republic Czech Republic The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....	22.12.2008
Denmark Denmark Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...	9.12.2008
Estonia Estonia Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...	19.12.2008
France France The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...	4.2.2009
Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...	19.12.2008
Greece Greece Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....	17.2.2009
Hungary Hungary Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...	15.9.2008
Iceland Iceland Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...	12.2.2009
Italy Italy Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...	23.12.2008
Latvia Latvia Latvia , officially the Republic of Latvia , is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by Estonia , to the south by Lithuania , to the east by the Russian Federation , to the southeast by Belarus and shares maritime borders to the west with Sweden...	18.9.2008
Lithuania Lithuania Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...	6.10.2008
Luxembourg Luxembourg Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...	12.2.2009
Netherlands Netherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...	17.2.2009
Norway Norway Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...	24.11.2008
Poland Poland Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...	21.10.2008
Portugal Portugal Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...	13.2.2009
Romania Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...	21.10.2008
Slovakia Slovakia The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...	24.10.2008
Slovenia Slovenia Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...	09.02.2009
Spain Spain Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...	18.12.2008
Turkey Turkey Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...	26.11.2008
United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...	19.12.2008
United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...	26.9.2008
Full membership	1.4.2009

History

Negotiation progress

See also