History of NATO Atlantic Treaty, which was signed by US President Harry S. Truman in Washington on 4 April 1949. It included the five Treaty of Brussels states plus the United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. The first NATO Secretary General, Lord Ismay, stated in 1949 that the organization's goal was "to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down". Popular support for the Treaty was not unanimous, and some Icelanders participated in a pro-neutrality, anti-membership riot in March 1949. The creation of NATO can be seen as the primary institutional consequence of a school of thought
History of NATO accepted by all three, with Hungarian acceptance being endorsed in a referendum in which 85.3% of voters supported joining NATO. Czech President Vaclav Havel welcomed the expansion, stating that "Never have we been part of such a broad, solid and binding security alliance, which at the same time respects in its essence the sovereignty and will of our nation." Polish foreign minister Bronislaw Geremek also welcomed the expansion saying that "Poland forever returns where she has always belonged: the free world". Hungarian foreign minister Janos Martonyi stated that the expansion showed that Hungary was returning "to her natural habitat." The