NATO`s EAPWP and MDWP can also be accessed by certified users under the Real-Time Information, Management and Exchange System (ePRIME) (PRIME.hq.nato.int). Further information about ePRIME can be found in the ePrime leaflet. In 1994, Ukraine joined the Partnership for Peace programme of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO); The country also entered into a “special partnership” with the organization in 1996. Ukraine joined the Council of Europe in 1995. Within the framework of the Partnership for Peace, partners are working on military and political-military reforms. Countries worked to develop Western-style defense ministries in which civilians lined armies along Western lines rather than the old Soviet style. Reforms have focused on interoperability and defence planning, as well as modern budgeting. Partners could attend most NATO meetings to observe Allies` deliberations. More importantly, for countries like Sweden and Finland that were not seeking NATO membership but wanted to have close relations with NATO, the Partnership for Peace was the ideal way to connect “neutral” nations to the Alliance.
The PfP helps prepare the Swiss armed forces for participation in peacekeeping missions abroad under the command of NATO, the EU or the United Nations (UN). The Partnership for Peace will continue to play a crucial role in ensuring peace in Europe by strengthening cooperation between the Alliance and partners such as Sweden and Finland. This is good for these countries as well as for NATO. It is also good for the United States to have reliable and competent partners who share the burden of defense and security in Europe. Today, as after the end of the Cold War, the Partnership for Peace remains an important tool for NATO and the United States to establish and maintain relations with countries that, although not members of NATO, are an important part of transatlantic efforts to promote peace and security in Europe. In today`s complex security environment, in which NATO`s future is in question and the United States` commitment to the Alliance appears to be diminishing, the United States needs friends – especially friends who serve as a useful bulwark against Russia. He has these friends in the NATO alliance as well as in the members of the Partnership for Peace. Contrary to the emerging narrative of NATO as a relic of the Cold War, made up of Western European countries reluctant to throw their full weight behind, U.S. policymakers would do well to remember that this is a global and complex entity that is more relevant today than ever. Since its inception, the Partnership for Peace has expanded to include partners from around the world, including Australia, Japan and South Korea. While these countries do not expect to apply for membership anytime soon (and the Alliance would probably not offer membership to a country outside the North Atlantic region), they have sought to establish closer working relationships with NATO, which provides for the partnership.
In 2014, at the Wales Summit, NATO endorsed the Enhanced Opportunity Partners programme, which granted special status within the Alliance to five countries that contribute significantly to NATO operations: Australia, Finland, Georgia, Jordan and Sweden. This status grants partners privileged access to NATO`s pure ministerial meetings and exercises. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization is a military and political alliance between 29 European and North American states. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization works with partner countries to jointly promote security. Switzerland cooperates with the organisation within the framework of the Partnership for Peace and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council. In this way, Switzerland can contribute its security and foreign policy concerns. The PfP is a flexible instrument of cooperation between NATO and its partner countries. 21 countries from Eastern and Southern Europe, the South Caucasus, Central Asia and Western Europe (including the six Western European countries Switzerland, Austria, Finland, Ireland, Sweden and Malta) participate in the PfP.
Each country defines the areas where cooperation with other PfP participants with NATO is regulated. The new partners did not like the partnership at first; they saw it as an opportunity for the Alliance to block membership in the new democracies. But NATO still had a long way to go before it was ready for new members, just like its new partners. Over time, other activities have been added to the partnership, including bilateral U.S. exercises with partners, described as “in the spirit of partnership.” Even Russia joined: it wasn`t until Putin came to power that Russia developed the narrative that NATO expansion was a threat. Mediterranean Dialogue (MD). 7 nations (Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco and Tunisia) participate in the MD program. Practical cooperation activities between NATO and MD countries, including STO activities, are included in the annual work programme for the Mediterranean Dialogue (DDA). All MD countries have the same basis of cooperation with NATO.
In this non-discriminatory framework, Md countries are free to choose the scope and intensity of their participation (self-reliance), including the establishment of individual cooperation programmes (ICPs). After the end of the Cold War, NATO proposed to its former enemies in the Warsaw Pact to create a framework for cooperation to build trust. This is how the Partnership for Peace (PfP) was born, created in 1994 as an instrument of cooperation between NATO and its partner countries. The PPP is a key tool for collective security. The PfP gives Switzerland access to other NATO partnerships with Mediterranean and Middle Eastern countries. In this way, it can establish links with important foreign and security policy regions. .