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1994
sees the launching at a Summit Meeting in Brussels of a major initiative
by NATO called Partnership for Peace. The invitation to join the
Partnership is soon accepted by nearly 30 non-NATO countries. Seizing
the opportunity to develop closer ties with the Alliance, the participating
countries prepare Individual Partnership Programmes tailored to
their specific needs.
A
few months later a Partnership Coordination Cell is established
at SHAPE, NATO's senior military command headquarters in Europe,
and offices for Partner countries are opened at NATO Headquarters
in Brussels. Meanwhile, efforts to strengthen the coherence of the
European security and defence role in NATO are pursued. A concept
known as Combined Joint Task Forces (CJTF's) is endorsed by the
NATO Council. It provides for smaller, more mobile and flexible
multinational forces adapted to modern needs.
In
the Russian Federation, multiparty parliamentary elections are held
at the end of 1993 - the first since 1917. In January of the next
year, the US, Russia and Ukraine sign an agreement and assurances
which will enable Ukraine to become a non-nuclear weapons state.
NATO
affairs continue to be dominated by the Alliance's increasing role
in the efforts of the international community to end the Yugoslav
conflict. Its involvement on the side of peace is at the top of
its agenda, despite the breadth and depth of the internal changes
which NATO itself must undergo. Belgian Foreign Minister Claes takes
over as Secretary General following the death in office of his predecessor
Manfred Wrner. A year later, Claes' resignation leads to the appointment
of Javier Solana, formerly Foreign Minister of Spain, to oversee
the further transformation of NATO and the development of its peacekeeping
responsibilities.
At
the end of 1994, initial steps are taken by NATO to improve understanding
and to examine scope for future cooperation with the countries of
the Mediterranean area. In what will become NATO's Mediterranean
Dialogue, formally instituted in February 1995, Egypt, Israel, Mauritania,
Morocco and Tunisia, subsequently joined by Jordan and Algeria,
initiate closer contacts with the Alliance.
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