The 2008 NATO Expansion Decision

Since 1949, NATO’s membership has increased from 12 founding members to 28 countries today after six rounds of enlargement (NATO Enlargement, no date, p. 1). According to Article 10 of the Washington Treaty which created NATO, membership in the organization is open to any “European state in a position to further the principles of the Treaty and to contribute to the security of the North Atlantic Area” (NATO, 2008, p. 2). On April 2-4, 2008 at the Bucharest Summit of NATO, the allied leaders invited Albania and Croatia to start accession talks; assured the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia that it will be invited once a solution to the issue of the country’s name has been reached with Greece because all members of the alliance have to agree before a new member is admitted (Deutsche Welle, 2008, p. 1); invited Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro to start Intensified Dialogues; and agreed that Georgia and Ukraine will become members in future. This paper is an analysis of the most important players.