The fundamental role of North Atlantic Treaty (NATO) is to safeguard the freedom and security of its member countries. It is one of the foundations on which the stability and security of the Euro-Atlantic area depends and it serves as an essential forum for transatlantic consultations on matters affecting the vital security interests of all its members.
The North Atlantic Treaty was signed in Washington on 4 April 1949, creating an alliance of 12 independent nations committed to each other's defence. Four more European nations later acceded to the Treaty between 1952 and 1982. On 12 March 1999, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland were welcomed into the Alliance, which now numbers 19 members.
The 19 member countries of the North Atlantic Alliance:

The decision to enlarge NATO was not taken in isolation but was part of a wider process leading to greater European integration. The door to membership of NATO remains open to other countries wishing to join in the future.
The North Atlantic Treaty has continued to guarantee the security of its member countries. Today, following the end of the Cold War and of the division of Europe, the Alliance has been restructured to enable it to contribute more effectively to the development of cooperative security structures for the whole of Europe.
The fundamental roles of NATO have always been concerned with security cooperation between member countries and, in more recent years, with Partner countries, in the political and defence fields. These have therefore been regarded as the first and second "dimensions" of the Alliance.
For many years, however, NATO has also actively pursued cooperation in relation to civil emergency planning and scientific and environmental cooperation. Together these can be regarded as the "Third Dimension" of the Alliance, transcending national boundaries.
The NATO Science Programme is dedicated to support the collaboration between scientists in Partner countries or Mediterranean Dialogue countries and scientists in NATO countries. Science Fellowships allow scientists of Partner-countries to study in NATO countries, and vice-versa; a few Science Fellowships are available in some countries for NATO-country scientists to study in other NATO countries.

CEENet - Central and Eastern European Networking Association

Central and Eastern European Networking Association (CEENet) is an association of national organizations which focus on the academic, research and educational networking. Members of CEENet are 21 national research and education networks (NRENs) from the following countries: Albania, Armenia, Austria, Bulgaria, Byelorussia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Mongolia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovenia, Slovakia and Uzbekistan.
The primary mission of CEENet is the international co-oordination of the establishment and operation of NRENs in Central and Eastern Europe and in adjacent countries.
This mission is attained by fulfilling the objectives such as:

CEENet has early recognized that the widespread usage and acceptance of Internet, networking and information technology depends on well trained and educated individuals involved in building the infrastructure, enacting the services, and effecting the management that emanate of the networking phenomena, implemented through instruments such as workshops and conferences.
It is clear that CEENet has been instrumental factor for the inception and development of many national networks in the member countries. The joint projects with NATO, OSI and other international organizations have benefited all the CEE and FSU countries. CEENet educational activities have opened new frontiers and have become a primer for knowledge and know-how dissemination.