Brussels, 30/03/2004 (Agence Europe) - On 29 March, the Atlantic Alliance formally enlarged to 26 members when the Prime Ministers of the seven countries deposited their instruments of accession with the United States Government.
At 13h00 local time, the Prime Ministers of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia handed over their accession instruments to the North Atlantic Treaty to US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who accepted them on behalf of the United States, which is the depository nation for the Treaty, NATO states in a press release. "At that moment, the seven countries formally became parties to the North Atlantic Treaty and members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation. This is the fifth and largest round of enlargement in NATO's history, bringing NATO to 26 member countries". The event was celebrated with a special ceremony at the White House hosted by US President George W. Bush and attended by NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.
The accession of the seven new members will be marked by a special flag-raising ceremony at NATO Headquarters in Brussels on 2 April attended by the Foreign Ministers of the now 26 member countries. It will be followed by an informal working luncheon (in turn followed by a meeting at 27 of the NATO-Russia Council at the same level).
In his speech, President Bush noted the presence at the White House ceremony of prime ministers from Albania, Croatia and Macedonia, three countries hoping to join the alliance. George Bush declared that NATO' doors remained open until the whole of Europe was united in freedom and peace.
The seven countries will bring up to 200,000 to the alliance, which could be brought up to strength with the addition of reservists or volunteers. Romania is the main contributor with 93,000 soldiers and 100,000 reservists, followed by Bulgaria with 45,000 soldiers (with up to 100,000 with reservists), Slovakia with 26,400 soldiers and Slovenia with 6,400 and 18,000 reservists. Lithuania has 11,600, Latvia 6,500 (and 11,700 volunteers) and Estonia with 4,000 members active in the army.