LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Nato Enlargement: Czech Republic
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Congress was placed in an awkward position on NATO enlargement. Consultation with Congress accelerated only after the essential decisions to enlarge NATO were made. Thus, the Clinton administration put Senators in the position of having little choice but to support NATO enlargement or cause serious damage to NATO and aspiring members. The U.S. Senate overwhelmingly ratified the admission of Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic into NATO. However, future enlargements will not be guaranteed similar support. Congress needs regular White House consultation on all aspects of NATO policy in order to keep members active in their support for NATO.
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Forty-five Republicans and 35 Democrats voted in favor of NATO enlargement. Nine Republicans and 10 Democrats voted against. One senator (Jon Kyl, a Republican from Arizona) did not vote. Those voting against NATO enlargement were:
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In 1994, NATO committed itself to a gradual enlargement of its membership, with the first three members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland brought onboard in 1999. To prevent deterioration in NATO-Russia relations, the Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation and Security was signed in 1997 declaring that NATO had 'no intention, no plan, and no need' to station nuclear weapons on the territory of any new members.
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It should be ... noted that “the development of American policy with regard to NATO enlargement was strongly influenced by domestic policy aspects”124 in which pressure from the Congress played a major role. At least three factors were decisive in shaping the decision to formally invite the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Poland at the NATO summit in Madrid in July 1997 to begin accession talks with a view to signing protocols of accession in December 1997 and completing the ratification process in “time for membership to become effective by the 50th anniversary of the Washington Treaty in April 1999.”125
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In his landmark speech to the recent regional defense conference in Bratislava, Czech President Vaclav Havel proposed that the order of priorities for NATO enlargement should be reversed. The Baltic states and Slovakia should be the first of the new states admitted, he argued, not the last.
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Today marks the official enlargement of NATO from 19 to 26 members as the 3 Baltic Republics join with Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania and Bulgaria. In effect all the current EU candidates for May 1st bar Malta and Cyprus.
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