ESTONIA

signed a "Charter of Partnership" with the United States, a kind of consolation prize for failing to make the cut on the first round of NATO expansion. The Charter, which took over a year to negotiate, is a hortatory document with no security guarantees or other binding obligations. The Charter declares the strong interest of the United States in the independence of the three Baltic republics and promises U.S. support for their efforts to qualify for full membership in Western political, economic, and security institutions, specifically including NATO in a follow-up round of enlargement. … Lithuania and the United States also signed a bilateral investment treaty, which guarantees that American investors in Lithuania and Lithuanian investors in the United States will (with some exceptions) be treated like home-country nationals. The United States signed similar treaties with Estonia and Latvia in 1994 and 1995. Unlike the Charter, the treaties require ratification by the United States Senate.