Under exceptional circumstances, however, the Alliance has at times applied exceptional measures. Since 1990, their frequency has increased considerably in order to address the changes brought on by the new security challenges.Īlthough they do not follow a regular or set schedule, NATO summits are normally planned far in advance. They are usually called on an ad-hoc basis, as required by the evolving political and security situation.įrom the founding of NATO in 1949 until the end of the Cold War – over 40 years – there were 10 summit meetings. Summits are convened upon approval by the NAC at the level of Permanent Representatives (or Ambassadors) or Foreign and Defence Ministers. The decisions are then translated into action by the relevant actors within NATO, according to the area of competency and responsibility: the NAC’s subordinate committees and NATO’s command structure, which cover the whole range of the Organization’s functions and activities. The summit declarations and communiqués are linked below for each NATO summit. These are public documents that explain the Alliance's decisions and reaffirm Allies’ support for NATO policies. Typically, the decisions taken at a summit meeting are issued in declarations and communiqués. The 1997 Madrid and Paris Summits invited the first countries of the former Warsaw Pact – Czechia, Hungary and Poland – to join NATO, and established partnerships between NATO and Russia and Ukraine, while the 2002 Prague Summit saw major commitments to improving NATO’s capabilities and transformed the military command structure. At the same summit, NATO established the North Atlantic Cooperation Council – a forum that officially brought together NATO and partner countries from Europe, Central Asia and the Caucasus. This was the first time ever that a NATO Strategic Concept was issued as a public document. A year later, in Rome, NATO Heads of State and Government published a Strategic Concept that reflected the new security environment. For instance, the first post-Cold War summit was held in London, in 1990, and outlined proposals for developing relations with Central and Eastern European countries. Many of NATO’s summit meetings were milestones in the evolution of the Alliance. Items can relate to the internal functioning of the Alliance as well as NATO's relations with external partners. NATO summit meetings are effectively meetings of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) – the Alliance's principal political decision-making body – at its highest level, that of Heads of State and Government.ĭue to the political significance of summit meetings, agenda items typically address issues of overarching political or strategic importance. The next will be in July 2023 in Vilnius, Lithuania.
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