Member states of NATO members and three former Yugoslav republics) from 12 March 1999 to 5 June 2017. NATO has added new members seven times since its founding in 1949, and since 2017 NATO has had 29 members. Twelve countries were part of the founding of NATO: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1952, Greece and Turkey became members of the Alliance, joined later by West Germany (in 1955) and Spain (in 1982). In 1990, with the reunification of Germany, NATO grew to include the former country of East Germany. Between
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