NATO

02 December 2008 U.S. Backs Gradual Resumption of NATO-Russia Relations  The U.S. has no objection to a gradual, phased re-engagement between NATO and Russia, a relationship that had been suspended since the Russian-Georgia crisis in August, says Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
 • Remarks by Secretary Rice at NATO Headquarters in Brussels

25 November 2008 Upcoming NATO Ministerial Meeting  Special briefing by Daniel Fried, Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs.

26 November 2008 Georgia and Ukraine in NATO Is Long-Term Goal, Says State's Fried  Leaders of the 26-nation NATO alliance have already agreed that Georgia and Ukraine will join someday, says Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried, who called on the trans-Atlantic body to use an upcoming summit to redouble support for long-term reforms to help place the emerging democracies on the path to eventual membership.
 • State's Fried on Upcoming NATO Ministerial Meeting in Brussels

24 October 2008 Bush, NATO Secretary-General Address Pressing Issues  President Bush signed the accession protocols for Albania and Croatia during a ceremony at the White House in a step bringing those two nations closer to joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
 • Bush and NATO Secretary-General's Remarks at Protocol Signing

10 October 2008 Ministers Approve Drug Network Attacks, Increasing Alliance Readiness  NATO defense ministers approved a proposal that will allow the International Security Assistance Force soldiers in Afghanistan to shut down drug networks that funnel money to the Taliban.

08 October 2008 U.S. Committed to NATO Membership for Ukraine, Georgia  The United States remains committed to NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia, and it calls on southeastern European nations to send more troops to Afghanistan. At the Southeast European Defense Ministerial meeting in Ohrid, Macedonia, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said October 8 that the U.S. commitment made by President Bush at the 2008 Bucharest NATO Summit remains unchanged.

01 October 2008 NATO Seen as Strengthening Security for All, Including Russia   Despite Russian claims that NATO enlargement is directed at Russia, the record demonstrates quite the opposite — that a new NATO has helped create an area of security, freedom and democratic governance which benefits, rather than threatens, neighboring Russia.

19 September 2008 NATO Supports Georgia's Integrity, Unity Against Russian Action  NATO defense ministers concluded an informal meeting in London by expressing support for Georgia in the crisis that broke out with Russia in August while suggesting that a political solution will entail concessions by all sides.

11 September 2008 NATO Enlargement Not Directed at Russia  The post-Cold War enlargement of NATO was not directed against Russia, a senior U.S. official says. "NATO enlargement was intended to achieve emergence of a Europe whole, free and at peace — all of Europe, not just its western half," said Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried.
 • State's Fried's Senate Testimony on North Atlantic Treaty

19 August 2008 Secretary Rice at NATO Headquarters after Meeting of Council  Sec. Rice discussed declaration on Georgia.

19 August 2008 NATO Strengthens Ties with Georgia  NATO will strengthen its ties to Georgia through a newly created commission designed to support reconstruction and stabilization in the aftermath of the Russian-Georgian conflict that erupted over two Georgian breakaway regions.

18 August 2008 NATO Ministers Weigh Response to Georgia Crisis  NATO's 26 foreign ministers will meet in an emergency session to underline the allianceÂ’s commitment to Georgia's future and weigh future relations with Russia in the wake of its air and ground attack on the emerging South Caucasus democracy.
 • Remarks by Secretary Rice En Route to Brussels, Belgium

23 May 2008 NATO Commander Says Afghan Illegal Drug Trade Aids Taliban  The illegal narcotics business so prevalent in southern Afghanistan poses a greater threat to security in some parts of the country than do Taliban insurgents, the commander of the NATO security force says.  In addition, profits from the sale of the illegal drugs are being used to fund the Taliban insurgency elsewhere in the country.

Bucharest Summit 2008

White House: NATO Summit 2008

23 April 2008 The Bucharest Summit and the Way Forward for NATO  Testimony by Daniel Fried Before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Europe

10 April 2008 Kurt Volker, Acting Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, at the Heritage Foundation on NATO's Future.

07 April 2008 The NATO Summit : Briefing by Daniel Fried, Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs

04 April 2008 NATO-Russia Council Concludes 2008 Bucharest Summit  NATO leaders and Russian President Vladimir Putin have reaffirmed a number of areas of security cooperation, including airspace management, civil emergency planning, scientific cooperation and environmental security.

03 April 2008 Press Briefing by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley in Bucharest, Romania.

03 April 2008 NATO Pledges Long-Term Security Commitment to Afghanistan  The 26-nation NATO security alliance has pledged to provide a shared, long-term commitment to the security and economic prosperity of Afghanistan. "In helping the Afghan people build security today, we are defending our basic values we all share," an alliance communiqué says.

03 April 2008 NATO Welcomes Albania and Croatia to Alliance  Leaders from NATO's 26 member states unanimously welcomed Albania and Croatia into the trans-Atlantic alliance, a move that President Bush says will further the cause of freedom and security in Europe.

03 April 2008 Czech Republic, U.S. Agree to Missile Defense Radar Installation  Advanced tracking radar technology -– key to protecting central European nations against long-range ballistic missiles launched from trouble spots –- will be installed in the Czech Republic by 2012. The stationing of the radar there is critical to the unfolding of a larger, but limited missile defense plan for Europe that will require the deployment of 10 interceptor missiles in Poland.

02 April 2008 NATO Securing a Future of Freedom, Bush Says  As a community of democracies, NATO has helped Europe become a continent that is whole, free and at peace, but alliance members must continue working together to meet the security challenges of the 21st century, President Bush said on the eve of the 2008 Bucharest Summit.

02 April 2008 NATO Expansion Decisions Rooted in Shared Democratic Values  As Albania, Croatia and the Republic of Macedonia look ahead to membership at the NATO Summit in Bucharest, Romania, a review of NATOÂ’s expansion shows how the organization has remained true to its roots as a security alliance based on shared democratic values while meeting changing security challenges, experts say.

01 April 2008 U.S. Supports NATO Membership for Ukraine and Georgia  Ukraine and Georgia can count on U.S. support when they make an initial bid for NATO membership at the 2008 Summit being held in Bucharest, Romania, President Bush says. "I'm going to work as hard as I can to see to it that Ukraine and Georgia are accepted" into the membership process, Bush told Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko in Kyiv, Ukraine, ahead of the April 2-4 NATO Summit. "I think it's in our interests as NATO members, and I think it's in Ukrainian and Georgian interests, as well."

01 April 2008 Press Briefing by Bush, Ukraine President Yushchenko in Kyiv  President Bush endorses Ukraine's and Georgia's bid to join NATO.

31 March 2008 Briefing by Dana Perino and Steve Hadley Brief en Route Kyiv, Ukraine  Discuss Bush's trip to Ukraine and the NATO Summit in Bucharest.

31 March 2008 Notes from NATO - A Summit Blog  Kim Giusti, a delegate to the Young Atlanticist Summit, is a current State Department Pickering Fellow and will be graduating from Georgetown University with a master's degree in German and European studies in May. This is a daily diary of her observations during the 2008 NATO summit.

28 March 2008 Bush Accepts PutinÂ’s Invitation for Talks in Russia   National security advisor previews NATO Summit, upcoming European tour

27 March 2008 Delegates to Upcoming NATO Summit Face Full Agenda  Like NATO summits of the past, the 2008 meeting in Bucharest, Romania, is composed of familiar elements -- consensus building, defining priorities, creating messages and laying the foundation for the future. But it is also about shared values and common goals. At Bucharest, leaders and ministers from the NATO community will be building strategies for Afghanistan security and reconstruction, establishing a secure future for Kosovo and finding new approaches to the challenges of terrorism.

27 March 2008 Briefing by Stephen Hadley on President Bush's Trip to NATO Summit

27 March 2008 Interview by Bush with Foreign Print Media Roundtable  Discusses upcoming trip to NATO Summit, NATO enlargement and Afghanistan.

25 March 2008 NATO Action Plan Leads to Alliance Membership  NATO has an established route for aspiring members to join the security alliance if they can demonstrate their ability to meet the obligations and commitments for possible future membership. "In particular, countries seeking NATO membership must be able to demonstrate that they are in a position to further the principles of the 1949 Washington Treaty [that created NATO] and contribute to security in the Euro-Atlantic area," says Army General Bantz J. Craddock, commander of the U.S. European Command and supreme allied commander Europe (NATO). "They are also expected to meet certain political, economic and military goals, which are laid out in the 1995 Study on NATO Enlargement."

25 March 2008 U.S. Supports Albania, Croatia, Macedonia for NATO Membership  NATO enlargement has been a major success not only in enhancing the trans-Atlantic security alliance, but also in promoting democratic institutions and challenging corrupt practices that inhibit economic development, says a senior U.S. diplomat. He says that these successes would be enhanced by bringing Albania, Croatia and Macedonia into the alliance at the 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania.

12 March 2008 StateÂ’s Fried Remarks at Senate Hearing on NATO Enlargement  Fried says “NATO is not just a military alliance; it is an alliance of values, and NATOÂ’s success in the past and promise for the future reflect its fusion of strength and democratic values.”

07 March 2009 NATO Is a Democratic Community Anchored in Shared Values   State's Volker previews Bucharest NATO Summit

06 March 2008 Briefing by Secretary Rice en Route Brussels, Belgium  Rice comments on NATO, Afghanistan, Middle East peace process

03 March 2008 NATO Summit To Address Afghan Strategy, Enlargement  NATO is committed to helping the Afghan people realize complete security, economic prosperity and political progress, and to keeping the alliance a relevant force for security and peace in the world.

22 February 2008 U.S. Ambassador to NATO Victoria NulandÂ’s Speech in Paris  Ambassador discusses strengthening global security for Europe.

13 February 2008 NATO Defense Ministers Prepare for April Summit  The pace of preparations for the NATO Summit in Romania in April quickened after NATO defense ministers met in Vilnius, Lithuania, February 8. They discussed how to progress on 21st-century security issues in preparation for the April summit meeting in Bucharest, Romania.

12 February 2008 Senator Richard Lugar on Vital Role of NATO in Afghanistan  Remarks by Indiana Senator Richard Lugar, the ranking Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

10 February 2008 Munich Conference on Security Policy by Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates

04 February 2008 Afghanistan and NATO: Why They Both Matter  Remarks by Kurt Volker, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs to the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Washington, DC

01 February 2008 Ambassador Nuland on NATO Emerging in Afghanistan ... Amb. Nuland writes “It's sometimes easy to take our allies for granted or to wonder if they are up to the challenge in a place such as Afghanistan. Today, 25 NATO allies and 14 other nations contribute to the mission there alongside American and Afghan troops ... The war is tough, but without allied help it would be much tougher.”

25 January 2008 NATO's Stake in Afghanistan Is High, Shortfalls Must Be Met  If it takes a village to raise a child, so too will it take a significant contribution by the international community -- particularly a concerted, sustained push by NATO -- to ease Afghanistan along a path where it can meet expectations.

26 December 2007 Sustained NATO Effort Needed for Long-term Success in Afghanistan   A moderate, stable Afghanistan is crucial to the United States, its NATO allies and the southwest region of Asia. To that end, NATO is leading some 40,000 troops from 37 nations under the umbrella of the United Nations-mandated International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

07 December 2007 Remarks by Secretary Rice at NATO Headquarters following a meeting of the NATO Council

22 June 2007 Global NATO: Congressman Suggests Creating Worldwide Alliance  NATOÂ’s 26 nations should consider expanding membership well outside of Europe and North America -- perhaps inviting Pacific-region democracies to join -- the chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee told NATOÂ’s senior commander June 22.

21 May 2007 Bush Welcomes NATO Leader at Texas Ranch  Security in Afghanistan, KosovoÂ’s future and European missile defense figured prominently in discussions between President Bush and NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer during a two-day meeting at the presidentÂ’s ranch in Crawford, Texas.

21 May 2007 President Bush Participates in Joint Press Availability with NATO Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer

26 April 2007 Rice Addresses Afghanistan, Kosovo, Middle East in Norway  Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice discussed peace in the Middle East, missile defense for Europe, KosovoÂ’s status and NATOÂ’s efforts in Afghanistan during a trip to Norway for the informal NATO foreign ministers meeting.

20 April 2007 U.S., NATO Countries Agree on Need To Maintain Defense Linkage  U.S. Under Secretary of Defense Eric Edelman, citing successful coupling of NATO and U.S. defense programs during the Cold War, said April 19 that such partnerships remain a good idea today “even though weÂ’re now in a post-Cold War era, facing new challenges and new threats.”

10 April 2007 U.S. Endorses Future NATO Expansion  President Bush has signed a new law extending U.S. military assistance to aspiring NATO members Albania, Croatia, Georgia, Macedonia and Ukraine.

01 February 2007 U.S. House Speaker Calls for More European Aid for Afghanistan  A delegation of U.S. lawmakers is calling for more international help to rebuild Afghanistan and also is criticizing the Bush administrationÂ’s new strategy for Iraq.

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