Ireland becomes a NATO Partner

  • 01 Dec. 1999 -
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  • Last updated: 05 Nov. 2008 07:34

On 1 December Ireland signed the Partnership for Peace (PfP) Framework Document in a special signing ceremony in the North Atlantic Council -NATO's highest decision-making body. Ireland thus became the 25th member of PfP.

In his welcoming remarks to Ireland, the Secretary General, Lord Robertson, said that this was truly a historic moment, and that by joining PfP and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC), Ireland marked another step in her contribution to a new, more stable and more secure Europe.

In the afternoon of 1 December the EAPC Ambassadors endorsed Ireland's addition to the EAPC, in accordance with the EAPC Basic Document, and the Irish Ambassador to Belgium, H.E. Eamonn Ryan, took Ireland's seat at the table.

Ireland has contributed to the NATO-led peace support operations in Bosnia and Kosovo. It has also participated in NATO's Ad Hoc Group on cooperation in peacekeeping with Partners.