What is it?
The Partnership for Peace (PfP) is a programme of practical bilateral cooperation between individual Partner countries and NATO. It allows Partner countries to build up an individual relationship with NATO, choosing their own priorities for cooperation.
Based on a commitment to the democratic principles that underpin the Alliance itself, the purpose of the Partnership for Peace is to increase stability, diminish threats to peace and build strengthened security relationships between individual Partner countries and NATO, as well as among Partner countries.
What does this mean in practice?
The essence of the PfP programme is a partnership formed individually between each Partner country and NATO, tailored to individual needs and jointly implemented at the level and pace chosen by each participating government.
Political commitments
The formal basis for the Partnership for Peace is the Framework Document, which sets out specific undertakings for each Partner country.
Each Partner country makes a number of far-reaching political commitments to preserve democratic societies; to maintain the principles of international law; to fulfill obligations under the UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Helsinki Final Act and international disarmament and arms control agreements; to refrain from the threat or use of force against other states; to respect existing borders; and to settle disputes peacefully.
 Specific commitments are also made to promote transparency in national defense planning and budgeting to establish democratic control over armed forces, and to develop the capacity for joint action with NATO in peacekeeping and humanitarian operations.
The Framework Document also enshrines a commitment by the Allies to consult with any Partner country that perceives a direct threat to its territorial integrity, political independence or security – a mechanism which, for example, Albania and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia made use of during the Kosovo crisis.
A menu of practical activities
Partner countries choose individual activities based on their ambitions and abilities. These are put forward to NATO in what is called a Presentation Document.
An Individual Partnership Programme is then jointly developed and agreed between NATO and each Partner country. These two-year programmes are drawn up from an extensive menu of activities, according to each country’s specific interests and needs. Cooperation focuses in particular on defense-related work, defense reform and managing the consequences of defense reform, but touches on virtually every field of NATO activity, including defense policy and planning, civil-military relations, education and training, air defense, communications and information systems, crisis management, and civil emergency planning.
NATO's cooperation with partners
What does this mean in practice?
NATO and its Partner countries hold regular consultations on a wide range of issues. Their forces exercise together and serve alongside each other in NATO-led operations. And they are working together against terrorism.
They also cooperate in areas such as defense reform, countering the proliferation of weapons, curbing the threat posed by landmines and stockpiled munitions, disaster preparedness, and scientific research.
Consultations
Through the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, NATO and Partner countries engage in regular consultations on a wide-rage of security and defense-related issues.
These range from general political discussions, for example on crisis-response missions and regional issues and tensions, to more technical exchanges on issues such as defense reform, budgeting and planning.
Joint missions, enhancing interoperability
Partner countries have made and continue to make significant contributions to the Alliance’s operations and missions, from the Balkans to Afghanistan, Iraq and Darfur.
In order to ensure that partner forces are capable of participating actively in NATO-led operations, they regularly take part in NATO exercises and training programmes.
Defense reform
With the end of the Cold War, mass armies and huge stockpiles of weapons and munitions were no longer needed. However, carrying out defense reforms is neither cheap nor easy.
One of the most important contributions of NATO’s cooperation with Partner countries are programmes to share expertise and provide assistance in tackling the extensive problems of defense reform, as well as managing its economic and social consequences.
A key priority is to promote the development of effective defense institutions that are under civilian and democratic control.
Combating terrorism
Meeting at very short notice a day after the September 11 2001 attacks against the United States, ambassadors from NATO and Partner countries unconditionally condemned the attacks and pledged to undertake all efforts to combat the scourge of terrorism.
At the 2002 Prague Summit, NATO and its Partners launched a Partnership Action Plan against Terrorism. This is leading to improved intelligence-sharing and cooperation in areas such as border security, terrorism-related training and exercises, and the development of capabilities for defense against terrorist attack or for dealing with the consequences of such an attack.
Tackling proliferation
Through consultations with its Partner countries, the Alliance seeks to increase common understanding and information-sharing on proliferation-related issues. Several seminars and workshops have looked at specific problems.
Subjects have included in-depth discussions on “Anthrax – lessons learned” which identified some of the key contingency planning points to emerge from the experience of autumn 2001 in the United States and elsewhere. Another topic has been problems associated with environmental industrial hazards and other medical-operational challenges.
Action against mines and small arms
The Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council has set up an Ad Hoc Working Group on Small Arms and Light Weapons and Mine Action to provide a forum for exchanging information on how best to control the transfer of such weapons, for example, through national export controls and enforcement mechanisms.
In addition, NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme promotes training in stockpile management and secure storage, disposal and destruction of surplus stocks, as well as weapons collection and destruction during peacekeeping operations. In 2000, a special Trust Fund was established to support the destruction of anti-personnel landmines, surplus munitions and small arms and light weapons.
Disaster response
In order to ensure an effective international response to natural or man-made disasters, NATO and Partner Countries have developed and continue to refine procedures for joint disaster response operations.
These are regularly rehearsed in exercises and at training seminars. Already on a number of occasions NATO and Partner countries have worked together to rescue, protect and bring relief to victims of disasters.
Scientific cooperation
Two distinct NATO programmes bring together scientists and experts from NATO and Partner countries on a regular basis to work on problems of common concern.
The NATO Security through Science programme concentrates its support for collaboration on research topics related to defense against terrorism or countering other threats to security. The programme of the Committee on the Challenges of Modern Society deals with problems of the environment and society by bringing together national agencies to collaborate on short and long-term studies in these areas.
NATO's cooperation with partners
How did it evolve?
The original objective of NATO's partnership policy was to break down barriers and to build security through dialogue and cooperation. Today, partner countries are engaged with NATO in tackling 21st century security challenges, including terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and failed states.
November 1989 saw the fall of the Berlin Wall, signaling the end of the Cold War. Within a short period, the remarkable pace of change in Central and Eastern Europe left NATO faced with a new and very different set of security challenges.
A hand of friendship
Allied leaders responded at their summit meeting in London, in July 1990, by extending a “hand of friendship” across the old East-West divide and proposing a new cooperative relationship with all the countries of Central and Eastern Europe. The scene was set for the establishment in December 1991 of the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC), a forum to bring together NATO and its new Partner countries to discuss issues of common concern.
Such was the pace of change in Europe at the time that the first meeting of the NACC itself witnessed a historic event: as the final communiqué was being agreed, the Soviet ambassador announced that the Soviet Union had dissolved during the meeting and that he now only represented the Russian Federation.
Changing the approach to security
This sea-change in attitudes was enshrined in a new strategic concept for the Alliance, issued in November 1991, which adopted a broader approach to security. While the defense dimension remained indispensable, more prominence could now be given to economic, social and environmental issues as a means of promoting stability and security in the Euro-Atlantic area as a whole. Dialogue and cooperation would be essential parts of the approach required to manage the diversity of challenges facing the Alliance. The key goals were now to reduce the risk of conflict arising out of misunderstanding or design and to better manage crises affecting the security of the Allies; to increase mutual understanding and confidence among all European states; and to expand the opportunities for genuine partnership in dealing with common security problems.
In line with this, in the immediate post-Cold War period, NACC consultations focused on residual Cold War security concerns such as the withdrawal of Russian troops from the Baltic States. Political cooperation was also launched on a number of security and defense-related issues. The NACC broke new ground in many ways. However, it focused on multilateral, political dialogue and lacked the possibility of each Partner country developing individual cooperative relations with NATO. The Partnership for Peace and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council
This changed in 1994 with the launch of the Partnership for Peace (PfP), a major programme of practical bilateral cooperation between NATO and individual Partner countries, which represented a significant leap forward in the cooperative process.
And, in 1997, the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) was created to replace the NACC and to build on its achievements, paving the way for the development of an enhanced and more operational partnership.
The EAPC and the PfP programme have steadily developed their own dynamic, as successive steps have been taken by NATO and its Partner countries to extend security cooperation, building on the partnership arrangements they have created. As NATO has transformed over the years to meet the new challenges of the evolving security environment, partnership has developed.
Deepening the partnership
Further steps were taken at the Prague Summit in November 2002 to deepen cooperation between NATO and Partner countries. A comprehensive review of the EAPC and the Partnership for Peace recommended strengthening the political dialogue with Partners and further enhancing their involvement in the planning, conduct and oversight of activities in which they participate.
A new cooperative mechanism, the Partnership Action Plan, was introduced at Prague. The first to be developed was the Partnership Action Plan against Terrorism. Another new initiative was the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP), which, rather than drawing from a menu of activities, allows the Alliance to tailor its assistance to interested Partner countries which have asked for more structured support for domestic reforms, particularly in the defense and security sector, according to their specific needs and circumstances.
Building on progress made at Prague, more steps were taken at the Istanbul Summit in June 2004 to strengthen the Euro-Atlantic Partnership and further tailor it to tackle key thematic issues and address individual Partners’ needs and capabilities.
A Partnership Action Plan on Defense Institution Building was launched to encourage and support Partners in building effective and democratically responsible defense institutions. The opportunities for Partners to enhance their contributions to NATO-led operations are being increased by involving troop-contributing countries earlier in the decision-making process and providing more possibilities for political consultation. In addition, the Operational Capabilities Concept is being enhanced and Partners are being offered the opportunity of representation at Allied Command Transformation, which is responsible for promoting and overseeing the continuous transformation of Alliance forces and capabilities. This will help promote greater military interoperability between NATO and Partner country forces and the transformation of defenses in keeping with NATO’s own evolving operational roles and capabilities.
A decision was also taken to put special focus on engaging with Partner countries in two strategically important regions, namely the Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) and Central Asia (Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan). NATO has assigned a special representative for the two regions as well as two liaison officers. Their role is to assist and provide advice in implementing relevant aspects of Individual Partnership Action Plans, where appropriate, as well as the Partnership Action Plans on Defense Institution Building and against Terrorism.
From partners to members
Two rounds of NATO enlargement have changed the balance between Allies and Partners. As of March 2004, there were more Allies than Partners – and the remaining Partners are a very diverse group. They include Balkan countries still dealing with the legacies of their past, the strategically important but underdeveloped countries of the Caucasus and Central Asia, and the Western European non-aligned states. While some are in the process of developing their defense structures and capabilities, others are able to contribute significant forces to NATO-led operations and to offer fellow Partner countries advice, training and assistance in various areas.
Today, 23 Partners use the EAPC to consult regularly with the 26 Allies and to develop cooperation on issues encompassing many different aspects of defense and security. Their military forces frequently exercise and interact together; their soldiers serve alongside each other in NATO-led peacekeeping operations; and Allies and Partners are working together in common cause against the threat of terrorism.
Who participates?
There are currently 22 countries in the Partnership for Peace Programme, see list by country or date.
The Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council
The Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) brings together 50 NATO and Partner countries for dialogue and consultation on political and security-related issues.
It provides the overall political framework for NATO’s cooperation with Partner countries and the bilateral relationships developed between NATO and individual Partner countries with the Partnership for Peace programme.
What is its authority, tasks and responsibilities?
In addition to short-term consultations in the EAPC on current political and security-related issues, longer-term consultation and cooperation takes place in a wide rage of areas.
These include, but are not limited to, crisis-management and peace-support operations; regional issues; arms control and issues related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction; international terrorism; defense issues such as planning, budgeting, policy and strategy; civil emergency planning and disaster-preparedness; armaments cooperation; nuclear safety; civil-military coordination of air traffic management; and scientific cooperation.
Who participates?
The EAPC is made up of the 26 NATO member countries and 24 partner countries.
How does it work in practice?
Most Partner countries have established diplomatic missions at NATO’s Headquarters in Brussels, which facilitates regular communication and enables consultations to take place whenever there is a need for them.
Meetings of the EAPC are held monthly at the level of ambassadors, annually at the level of foreign and defense ministers and chiefs of defense, as well as occasionally at summit level.
As of 2005, a new high-level EAPC Security Forum meets to discuss important security issues and look at how NATO and Partner countries can best address them together.
How did it evolve?
The decision, in 1997, to create the EAPC reflected NATO’s desire to move beyond the achievements of the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (created in 1991) to build a security forum for a more enhanced and operational partnership.
The new forum was set up to match the increasingly sophisticated relationships being developed with Partner countries under the Partnership for Peace programme and in the context of the peacekeeping operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where troops from 14 Partner countries had deployed in 1996 to serve alongside Allied counterparts.
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About PFP 
