(2018-1191-F) Daniel Fried and NATO

The materials in FOIA 2018-1191-F are a selective body of documents responsive to the topic of the FOIA. Researchers should consult the archivist about related material. This collection contains Daniel Fried’s files related to NATO enlargement. Ambassador Fried joined the National Security Council’s Central and Eastern European Affairs Directorate in 1993. Previously, he had worked in the Foreign Service in St. Petersburg (then Leningrad), Belgrade, and Warsaw. While at the NSC, his work focused primarily on the Central European nations of Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Poland. He often served as a notetaker for meetings between President Clinton or Cabinet officials and their counterparts in these countries. In 1997, he was appointed the U.S. Ambassador to Poland. Stephen Flanagan took over his responsibilities at the NSC (see FOIA 2018-1190-F). The disintegration of the Soviet Union and dissolution of the Warsaw pact in the late 1980s led to security concerns in central and eastern Europe. In response, the North Atlantic Cooperation Council was formed and allowed for multilateral political cooperation and consultation in the region. At the same time, many of the newly independent nations were turning westward in search of stability, security, and economic prosperity. This led to the establishment of the Partnership for Peace in 1994, a program aimed at creating trust and cooperation between the nations of NATO and other European countries. Most of these countries were newly independent post-Soviet states, including Russia. Eventually, the Partnership for Peace came to be seen as an unofficial steppingstone to eventual NATO membership. Indeed, the official Declaration from the 1994 Brussels Summit, where NATO announced the Partnership for Peace, reads, “We expect and would welcome NATO expansion that would reach to democratic states to our East, as part of an evolutionary process, taking into account political and security developments in the whole of Europe.” The pace and mechanics of NATO enlargement continued to be a subject of debate between the U.S. and its allies for much of the 1990s. In 1997, at the Madrid Summit, Czechia, Hungary, and Poland were invited to begin accession talks. Then, in 1999, NATO issued a statement interpreting Article 10 of the Charter as an “Open Door Policy” for enlargement. Czechia, Hungary, and Poland were admitted that year. As of 2024, NATO has expanded to include 13 additional nations. Daniel Fried’s files focus on the early discussions regarding NATO enlargement, including the mechanisms for expansion, Russian opposition, and the implementation of the Partnership for Peace. The records consist of correspondence, memorandums, and reports on these topics. There is also a copy of the December 1993 report from the Committee on Eastern Europe and Russia in NATO, “Bringing Eastern Europe and Russia into NATO.” Much of the collection consists of Ambassador Fried’s handwritten notebooks. These contain both his daily work notes as well as his notes from those Presidential and Cabinet-level meetings he attended as notetaker. In addition to discussions on NATO and the Partnership for Peace, these notes reference other ongoing issues in Central and Eastern Europe, including the instability in the former Yugoslavia and the civil unrest in Albania in 1997. Many of the records related to this FOIA case are closed for national security reasons.