Parliament of Portugal Has Voted for Accession of States Invited by NATO [28 Nov 2003]

On 27 November 2003 the Parliament of Portugal voted for the Accession Protocols to the North Atlantic Treaty of the seven countries - Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia - invited to join the Alliance.

The law on ratification will take effect after Portugal's President signs it.

To date, fourteen of the nineteen NATO member states have endorsed Latvia's membership of NATO. The ratification process is still under way in France, Belgium, Iceland, the Netherlands and Spain.

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