On March 18th 2004, with 226 votes “for” and four votes “against”, the 39th National assembly ratified the North Atlantic treaty.

Membership of Bulgaria in NATO was first proposed as a political matter on June 23rd 1990, when Solomon Pasi – chairman of the Atlantic club, introduces the proposal to join the North Atlantic treaty to the parliament.

Fourteen years later, on March 18th 2004, the National assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria ratified the North Atlantic treaty. NATO is a military alliance established by the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty on April 4th 1949. On March 29th, 2004, the documents for the joining to the North Atlantic treaty of seven countries – Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia and Romania – were deposited in Washington.