The Czech Republic joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation on 12 March 1999. Czech soldiers currently participate in two NATO operations - Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan and KFOR in Kosovo. At present, the NATO consists of 29 independent countries.
The alliance has continued to expand, with North Macedonia joining in 2020, Finland in 2023, and Sweden in 2025, bringing the total number of NATO member states to 32.
No countries have left NATO since its founding, although France withdrew from NATO unified command between 1966 and 2009. Since the accession of Sweden on 7 March 2024, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization covers a total area of 27,580,492 km2 (10,648,887 sq mi).
The path to NATO membership was a transformative journey for Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Poland. Following the end of the Cold War, these nations embarked on ambitious political, economic, and military reforms, demonstrating their commitment to democratic values, market economies, and European integration.
Poland produced a commemorative stamp for its accession to NATO on 12 March 1999. Poland became a NATO member on 12 March 1999. Celebrations for the country's accession, along with Czechia and Hungary, continued over the following weeks, leading up to NATO's 50th anniversary and the 1999 Washington Summit.
20th Anniversary of Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic Joining NATO
When did France leave NATO?
In 1966, France decided to withdraw from the Alliance's integrated military command. That decision in no way undermined France's commitment to the Alliance's collective defence.
Ireland implemented a policy of neutrality during the Second World War. In 1949 Ireland was invited to join NATO, but did not accept the invitation because it did not wish to join an alliance that also included Great Britain.
Perceiving the Cold War polarization of the world's powers as detrimental to its own interests, France withdrew from the military structure of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, initially leaving the alliance more vulnerable defensively.
While neither Seoul nor Tokyo are members of the alliance, NATO has invited both countries, along with Australia and New Zealand, to its annual summits since 2022.
It suffered Soviet domination for more than four decades, including occupation by Soviet troops after 1968. It became a member of NATO only 10 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall as one of the first three countries from Central and Eastern Europe to join the very alliance that the Warsaw Pact had opposed.
Global security relationships – Australia's relationship with NATO. Though Australia is not a NATO member, its ties to the organisation have grown as a result of ADF deployments to Afghanistan under the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.
Turkey has been a member of NATO since 1952, has its second largest army and is the host of the Allied Land Command headquarters. The Incirlik and Konya Airbases have both been involved in several NATO military operations since their establishment. The current ambassador to NATO is Basat Öztürk.
On 5 March 2000 in response to a question about his attitude towards NATO, Mr Putin also said he could envisage a closer relationship between Russian and the alliance. "We believe we can talk about more profound integration with NATO, but only if Russia is regarded as an equal partner," he said.
Cyprus is one of four European Union (EU) member states which is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the only one not to participate in NATO's Partnership for Peace (PfP) program. The others are Austria, Ireland and Malta.
NATO's main headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium, while its military headquarters are near Mons, Belgium. The combined militaries of all NATO members include approximately 3.5 million soldiers and personnel. Their combined military spending constitutes over half of the global total.
Austria, Ireland and Malta are the odd ones out: Aside from Cyprus, they are the only countries who find themselves inside the EU but outside of NATO. This is because the three are legally bound to neutrality, which forbids them from joining military alliances.
The development of financial ties between the two countries created the economic prerequisites for the Russo-French Alliance. The Pont Alexandre III in Paris (pictured during the 1900 Paris Exposition) and the Trinity Bridge in St Petersburg remain two symbols of the Franco-Russian Alliance.
The four EU member states which are not members of NATO (Austria, Cyprus, Ireland and Malta) held positions of neutrality during the Cold War, which they have since maintained. However, all but Cyprus are members of NATO's Partnership for Peace.
France tested its first nuclear weapon in 1960 and is one of five nuclear weapon states recognized under the NPT. It currently possesses the world's fourth largest nuclear stockpile, deliverable by submarine and air-launched cruise missiles.
While economic relations were good prior to the 2014 sanctions, and the Czech Republic is a common tourist destination for Russians, the Czech people themselves tend to be distrustful of Russia due to the Soviet invasion of 1968, and tend to hold a negative opinion of Russians as a legacy of Soviet-era conflicts.
Sweden has been a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) since 7 March 2024. Before applying for NATO membership, Sweden had maintained a policy of neutrality in military affairs since the Napoleonic Wars, after which Sweden adopted a policy of "non-alignment in peace and neutrality in war".
One challenge for the Czechs was their lack of representation in the NHL. Because the 4 Nations Face-Off is not associated with the IIHF, the rosters must be made up completely of players with NHL contracts who are on NHL rosters. Some of the country's top talent doesn't play in the NHL.
