Bulgaria Marks 15 Years Since Joining NATO

On 29 March 2004, Bulgaria became a full member of NATO. Bulgaria's accession to the Alliance is undergoing a continuous integration process that began in the 1990s. In 1990, Bulgaria accepted the invitation to establish diplomatic ties with NATO.

On February 14, 1994, our country signed the Framework Document and joined NATO's Partnership for Peace program. In March 1997, the government adopted a National Program for Preparation and Accession of Bulgaria to the North Atlantic Alliance and a Council of Ministers decree establishing a governmental mechanism for the coordination of efforts for preparation and accession to NATO - Interagency Committee for Integration into NATO.

In May 2000, our country joined the formation of the Vilnius Group as a process of political solidarity and cooperation between the candidate countries for NATO membership. Bulgaria receives an invitation to NATO membership on 22 November 2002 at the Prague summit.

On 18 March 2004, the National Assembly ratified the North Atlantic Treaty, and on March 29, 2004, along with six other countries (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia), became a full member of the Alliance. A few days later - on April 2, 2004 was the official ceremony at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels marking the accession of the seven new countries to the North Atlantic Treaty. The national flags of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia were raised in alphabetical order. As a result, NATO's largest expansion was completed.

The accession of Bulgaria to NATO was one of the main priorities of our country's foreign policy in the 1990s. Active participation in the Partnership for Peace program contributed significantly to the readiness of the Bulgarian...