Hungary Becomes a Member State of NATO

With the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the countries of Central Europe were able to join the economic, political, and defence organizations of the West. The Visegrad Group was created, an alliance of Czechoslovakia (later the Czech and Slovak Republics), Poland, and Hungary intended to create closer economic ties between the member states. In March 1999, together with the other states of the Visegrad Group, Hungary joined NATO, and on May 1 2004 it became a member of the European Union.