THE Partnership for Peace was established by Nato Heads of State and Government in January 1994. It was a response to the ending of the Cold War, and was aimed primarily at the states of central and eastern Europe and the Baltic.

With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, many of these states expressed concern about the danger of a security vacuum in the region. Some expressed interest in joining Nato.

The founding statement of PFP said: "Active participation in the Partnership for Peace will play an important role in the evolutionary process of the expansion of Nato."

Membership of PFP does not of itself involve Nato membership, and individual member states can negotiate their own relationship with Nato. Almost all other neutral European states, including Finland, Sweden and Austria, have joined PFP without giving any commitment to eventual Nato membership.

The stated objectives of the PFP are: to facilitate transparency in national defence planning and budgeting; ensure democratic control of defence forces; maintain members' capacity to contribute to UN or CSCE operations; develop cooperative military relations with Nato to increase members' ability to undertake peacekeeping, humanitarian and other missions; develop forces that are better able to operate with those of Nato members.