Although NATO has no formal program to prepare such nations for NATO membership, it has taken steps to strengthen certain non-NATO members’ relationships with NATO. 1). PFP objectives include fostering democratization in partners’ defense establishments; encouraging joint planning, training, and military exercises with NATO forces; promoting the ability of partner nations to operate with NATO forces in humanitarian relief, search and rescue, peacekeeping, and other agreed-upon missions; and developing forces that are better able to operate with NATO forces. To implement the program, NATO and each PFP partner develop a plan that depicts NATO-proposed exercises and other PFP-related activities of interest to the partner and lists the partner’s military and other assets that might be used for PFP activities. NATO’s PFP Program Helps Partners Prepare for Membership

The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia are extensively involved in NATO’s PFP program. NATO, U.S., and partner officials agree that PFP is improving the ability of potential new members and other PFP partners to work with NATO in key areas but they cannot quantifiably measure the extent to which it will improve such abilities across the full range of NATO activities. Needs of PFP Partner States

PFP partners need to improve their ability to work closely with NATO in numerous areas, according to U.S., NATO, and partner officials. The remaining 36 percent of the activities involve 13 other PFP cooperation areas. Civil Emergency Planning   6.5%Civil Emergency Plan NATO has also offered partners the opportunity to take part in a planning and review process aimed at helping them meet NATO’s PFP interoperability standards. U.S. Programs Support NATO PFP Efforts

The United States has focused its Warsaw Initiative and other U.S. assistance programs heavily on the six countries that we reviewed. The executive branch programmed about $308.6 million for fiscal years 1995-97 for Warsaw Initiative efforts and other related bilateral assistance programs. It has directed about 46 percent ($142.7 million) of these funds to the six countries that we reviewed. Efforts to Coordinate Allied Support

Several NATO members are providing bilateral assistance to PFP partners. NATO and some of its members are seeking to exchange data about PFP-related efforts in several different forums. Prospective New Members Preparing for NATO Membership

The six countries that we reviewed have taken several steps to demonstrate their interest in joining NATO and to prepare for possible membership. All six of these countries have also demonstrated their interest in NATO by volunteering units to support the NATO-led peace operation effort in Bosnia. NATO officials informed us that the Bosnia mission has greatly promoted the interoperability of these nations’ units with those of NATO members. Scope and Methodology

To address our objectives, we interviewed officials and gathered and analyzed information from officials in the Department of State; the Office of the Secretary of Defense; the Joint Chiefs of Staff; the Defense Intelligence Agency; the Defense Security Assistance Agency; the U.S. Mission and Military Delegation to NATO, Brussels, Belgium; the U.S. European Command in Germany; the U.S. Atlantic Command, Norfolk, Virginia; NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium; SHAPE in Mons, Belgium; U.S. country delegations in Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Germany; and recipient governments in the Czech Republic, Poland, and Hungary, and Germany, and Denmark. Major contributors to this report are listed in appendix V.

Partnership for Peace Areas of Cooperation as of May 1996

North Atlantic Treaty Organization PFP Interoperability Objective Topics

Department of Defense Warsaw Initiative Interoperability Programs

During fiscal years 1995-97 the Department of Defense (DOD) programmed almost $7.3 million to support U.S. interoperability programs in the six countries included in our review, including about $7.2 million for the following programs. DOD programmed almost $2.7 million in fiscal year 1995-97 funds for such studies and a navigational aids study for the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland. Additional copies are $2 each.
Why GAO Did This Study

Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO reviewed how: (1) the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Partnership for Peace (PFP) program is helping aspiring members prepare for possible NATO membership; (2) U.S. assistance efforts are helping aspiring partner countries to prepare for possible NATO membership; (3) other NATO members' efforts are being coordinated with NATO and U.S. efforts; and (4) aspiring countries are preparing themselves for possible NATO membership. In addressing these objectives, GAO focused on efforts aimed at improving partners' ability to work militarily with NATO, but did not evaluate prospective members' political and economic efforts to prepare for membership.

What GAO Found

GAO noted that: (1) NATO, the United States, and other NATO members are assisting prospective new members in areas relevant to NATO's principles for expansion; (2) GAO's analysis indicates the assistance provided under these programs is generally consistent with prospective members' needs, as those needs were identified to GAO by NATO, U.S., and prospective member officials; (3) through exercises, symposia, training, and other activities, NATO's $26.2 million PFP program is helping partner countries begin to improve their ability to work more closely with NATO in PFP-related activities; (4) the six countries that GAO reviewed are using PFP primarily to take part in hundreds of NATO-sponsored exercises, training sessions, communications efforts, and other activities; (5) these events are limited to peacekeeping, search and rescue, and similar missions; (6) while U.S. and NATO officials cannot quantitatively measure the extent to which such events would enhance a future member's ability to work closely with other NATO members on the full range of NATO activities, they believe that the events are improving the ability of partner forces to interoperate with NATO; (7) U.S. bilateral assistance efforts generally complement NATO's PFP program, fall within areas of cooperation designated by NATO and its PFP partners, and reflect an emphasis on helping PFP forces work with NATO forces; (8) while it has programmed $308.6 million in fiscal year 1995 to 1997 funds for such assistance to 23 PFP partners, the United States has focused 46 percent of this amount on efforts involving Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia; (9) about 60 percent of these funds for the six countries is for the purchase of nonlethal military hardware; (10) other NATO members are also assisting PFP partners, although GAO could not determine the overall value of such aid; (11) while NATO seeks to improve its mechanism for coordinating members' assistance efforts, the United States and other major donors are attempting to coordinate directly with one another by exchanging detailed information among themselves; (12) also, NATO's military command has set up a database of PFP and bilateral events; (13) each of the six countries that GAO reviewed has formally informed NATO of its interest in joining NATO and has identified various steps it believes are needed to address NATO's expectations for new members; (14) each is actively involved in PFP and all are participating in the NATO-led peacekeeping operation in Bosnia; and (15) some are seeking to meet NATO interoperability standards, develop new arrangements with neighbors, and streamline their militaries.