RS21055 -- NATO Enlargement
Updated May 5, 2003

	Background

Congress is now considering enlargement of NATO, an issue addressed at the allied summit in Prague, in November 2002. During the last round of enlargement, the Senate voted 80-19 on April 30, 1998, in favor of admitting Poland, theCzechRepublic, and Hungary to NATO. The terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001, are affecting the enlargement debate. Six of the seven candidate states joined the coalition. Today, most member states couch discussion of enlargement in careful terms. The views of the Russian government play a role in the debate. It also reviews NATO's mission and capabilities, relations withRussia, rolein the Balkan wars, and the Prague NATO summit.
This report provides a brief summary of the last round of NATO enlargement. The report analyzes the key military and political issues in the debate over seven prospective members named atNATO'sPrague summit. It then provides an overview of the positions of the allies and of Russia on enlargement, citing theeffectsof the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, on the United States. It concludes with a discussion of recentlegislation onenlargement. This report will be updated as needed. See also CRS Report RS21354, The NATO Summit atPrague, 2002,CRS Report RL30168, NATO Applicant States: A Status Report, and CRS Report RS21510,NATO's Decision-MakingProcedure.