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President Clinton Travels to Prague to Mark the 25th Anniversary of the Czech Republic’s Ascension to NATO


For Immediate Release: March 11, 2024

Contact: press@clintonfoundation.org

 

PRESIDENT CLINTON TRAVELS TO PRAGUE TO MARK THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC’S ASCENSION TO NATO 

 

PRAGUE – President Bill Clinton is in Prague this week, where he will deliver remarks at the “Our Security Cannot Be Taken For Granted” conference to mark the 25th anniversary of the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary’s membership to NATO – an expansion that helped to realize a more peaceful, united and democratic Europe.

President Clinton will deliver the keynote address Tuesday, March 12 at 1:45 PM CET (8:45 AM ET). The conference will be livestreamed at https://www.nbns.cz/en/live/.

The end of the Cold War and the fall of the Soviet Union challenged world leaders to consider NATO’s restructuring. Early in his presidency, President Clinton outlined a vision of a Europe undivided and in harmony for the first time in history. Inviting Central and Eastern Europe to join NATO was central to his vision of safeguarding Europe’s freedom; an expansion he projected was not a matter of if but when. The President’s vision was finally realized in 1999, by enlarging the trans-Atlantic Alliance to include the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary – marking a historic step for Europe’s security.

During the visit, President Clinton will be presented with the National Order, the highest honor of the Czech Republic government. See below for more details, and learn more about the visit and the anniversary at clintonfoundation.org/25th-anniversary-of-czech-nato-membership/.

 

Background on the Czech Republic’s NATO Expansion

In January 1994, after attending the final session of the NATO summit in Brussels, President Clinton traveled to Prague with Secretary of State Warren Christopher, where he met with the presidents and prime ministers of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia. In March 1994, the Czech Republic joined the Partnership for Peace.

At the July 1997 NATO summit in Madrid, Spain, President Clinton and other NATO heads of state and government invited the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland to begin accession talks with the Alliance. During a ministerial meeting in Brussels that following December, Alliance members signed protocols to add the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to the Alliance.

The U.S. Senate ratified the Treaty on NATO Accession for the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland on April 30, 1998, by a vote of 80-19. The Czech Republic joined NATO in March 1999 as one of the Alliance’s first new members since the fall of the Berlin Wall.

  • Secretary Albright played a critical role at every step of this process and the expansion could not have been done without her. President Clinton said,
    • “Indeed, few diplomats have ever been so perfectly suited for the times they served as Madeleine. As a child in war-torn Europe, Madeleine and her family were twice forced to flee their home—first by Hitler, then by Stalin. She understood that the end of the Cold War provided the chance to build a Europe free, united, prosperous, and secure for the first time since nation-states arose on the continent. As UN ambassador and secretary of state, she worked to realize that vision and to beat back the religious, ethnic, and other tribal divisions that threatened it. She used every item in her famed diplomat’s toolkit and her domestic political savvy to help clear the way for the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland to join NATO in 1999.”

This addition into the Alliance was the first round of post-Cold War enlargement, representing a milestone for Central and Eastern Europe integration into the trans-Atlantic community and a recognition by long-standing NATO members that the alliance made significant progress toward establishing democratic political systems and market economies. At the time, the Czech Republic had the strongest economy of the three nations. After integration into the alliance, by 2002, two-thirds of the public recognized that effective membership in NATO entailed a well-performing Czech military fully integrated in NATO.

In the Czech Republic’s first two years of membership in NATO, the performance in defense lagged behind Hungary and Poland. In the early years of its members, the Czechs had difficulties fulfilling its obligations toward NATO – struggling to meet agreed force goals, and managing the expectations of its new international position.  Today, the Czech Republic has evolved into an active participant in NATO-led operations and missions.

In January 2023, former NATO General Petr Pavel became the fourth president of the Czech Republic, demonstrating how the country is cementing itself in the Western mainstream. The Czech Republic also supports NATO expanding membership to Ukraine as the only viable path forward for peace in Ukraine.

 

Timeline of President Clinton’s Involvement with the NATO Expansion

  • The end of the Cold War and Soviet Union and dissolution of the Warsaw Pact in the early 1990s led to a call for structural change in NATO’s position in Europe. While collective defense remained its cornerstone, NATO needed to decide what form this outreach would take and whether it would entail full membership in the West’s premier security institution.
  • Before the NATO expansion began, President Clinton proposed an initiative at the 1993 defense ministers meeting for bilateral cooperation between individual Euro-Atlantic partner countries and NATO. The Partnership for Peace (PfP) initiative was a NATO program to increase cooperation with new democracies in Europe, and “to draw Central and Eastern Europe toward our community of security.”
    • The PfP program was formally launched in January 1994 to enable participants to develop an individual relationship with NATO, choosing their own priorities for cooperation, and the level and pace of progress.
  • On January 11-12, 1994, President Clinton traveled to Prague to meet with the President Havel and Prime Minister Vaclav Klaus of the Czech Republic; President Arpad Goncz and Prime Minister Peter Boross of Hungary; President Lech Walesa and Prime Minister Waldemar Pawlak of Poland; and President Michal Kovac and Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar of Slovakia. At the meeting, he and the presidents and prime ministers discussed ways in which the U.S. was prepared to advance the integration of Europe: the Partnership for Peace initiative (PfP), the ways in which the U.S. can help to solidify democratic and market reforms, and the ways the U.S. can support regional integration, including support for regional infrastructure projects like highways, communication networks, and air traffic systems.
    • Inspiring leaders such as Czech Republic President Václav Havel played a critical role in the NATO expansion. President Havel’s commitment to democracy and human rights, his desire to build partnerships, and his political smarts are a significant reason why, today, thousands of citizens celebrate the ascension.
  • On October 22, 1996, President Clinton called for the admittance of new members by 1999, and formally named Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic as the United   States’ three candidates for membership in June 1997.
  • At the 1997 NATO Summit in Madrid, President Clinton and other NATO leaders agreed to extend the invitation for membership to Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic.
  • The Clinton Administration successfully lobbied the Senate to back NATO expansion, and on April 30, 1998, senators voted 80-19 in favor of admitting Poland, the Czech Republic, and Hungary. The three countries would become full members of the alliance in March of 1999, the first NATO expansion since post-Franco Spain joined in 1982.